Asheville resident Lewis Kyle Wilson has been charged with the brutal assault and kidnapping of a prostitute. He has also been dubbed a “person of interest” in an unsolved 2006 murder and several similar assaults in the River District area. Search warrants reveal details about this case, while people who have known him shine light on the havoc the situation has wreaked throughout the community.
Warning: The material that follows, drawn from police reports, includes extremely graphic information regarding rape and violence.
Wilson,a 31-year-old carpenter, was arrested Nov. 26, 2008, on charges of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill and first-degree kidnapping after a woman claimed that he forced her to perform oral sex and stabbed her in the head on Nov. 19. By her account, she then bit his penis and managed to escape, calling the police from a nearby house. The Asheville Police Department searched Wilson’s residence and the surrounding area the same day, seizing items that included bags of hair, handcuffs, leg irons, guns, saws and a small box of teeth.
On Dec. 8, the APD executed a second search warrant on the area, identifying Wilson as a “person of interest” in the unsolved murder of prostitute Kelly Lane Smith and in the cases of two prostitutes who reported being attacked and raped in the same area in the past. Smith was last seen on July 29, 2006. Parts of her dismembered remains were found in the area several days later in two separate locations — both less than a mile from Wilson’s residence.
That second warrant also links Wilson to two prostitutes who reported being attacked and raped in the same area in the past, in May and August 2008. Both women described a vehicle like Wilson’s — a gold/tan-colored extended cab pickup with a camper top — and the one assaulted in the May incident later identified him out of a photo lineup.
Police are continuing to investigate the three cases, and Wilson has not yet been charged in any of them. He is currently in jail on a $115,000 bond.
Since the allegations arose in November, rumors have swirled around the case and acts Wilson is and isn’t accused of. Some of those who knew Wilson describe him as active in the community and say the case’s impact has been wrenching.
“This was someone who came to our parties, was a babysitter to our children and repaired our houses — it’s wreaked complete havoc on all of us,” Morgana Davis, who has known Wilson since 1999, told Xpress. “To hear those allegations … there’s a lot of trust issues now, a lot of people questioning themselves.”
The Timeline
Below is a timeline with details compiled from information revealed in the search warrants or from the APD. Again, this material is extremely graphic.
July 29, 2006: Kelly Lane Smith, a local prostitute, is last seen by her friends.
July 31, 2006: The Asheville Police Department receives a call from employees at Highland Clays about skeletal remains found behind the business in the French Broad River. Investigation leads to the recovery of a human skull, two tibias, two kneecaps, a partial left foot and a lower jawbone. According to the warrant, “the remains were clearly dismembered and cut into smaller parts, and most of the teeth were missing from the jaw.”
Aug. 7, 2006: The APD receives a second call, this time about remains found in a culvert near the intersection of Roberts and West Haywood streets. A right and left hand, and part of a left arm are recovered. Fingerprinting and DNA analysis reveals both these remains and those found on July 31 to be those of Smith.
May 11, 2008: A prostitute is picked up by a white male in a tan-colored extended-cab pickup. By her account, the man takes her to 64 Craven St., where she is, according to the warrant, “assaulted and raped both vaginally and anally.” He threatens to cut her throat and throw her body in the river. She manages to escape.
August 6, 2008: Another prostitute is picked up by a “white male in a gold colored extended cab pickup with a camper top and taken to 68 1/2 Craven Street.” According to her statement, she is beaten severely about the face and head. The man knocks her unconscious after she refuses anal sex, before dropping her off alongside the roadway when she comes to.
Nov. 19, 2008: At 12:40 a.m., the APD responds to a call from 16 Brownwood Ave., less than a half mile from Wilson’s residence. A badly injured woman claims that she’s been assaulted and is taken to Mission Hospitals.
According to the statements of the woman and her boyfriend, they are walking from Aston Tower Apartments to the Bartlett Arms Apartments when they notice a “gold king cab truck with matching gold camper shell repeatedly drive by them.” The truck follows them into the Bartlett Arms parking lot and the driver, according to the boyfriend’s account, asks her for oral sex. She initially refuses, but after further conversation, tells her boyfriend that she would return in a few minutes. The boyfriend will later tell police that the driver is a white male, “possible Mexican,” with black hair and a goatee.
The driver then requests oral sex, according to the prostitute’s later emergency-room statement, which she agrees to. He then strikes her in the head and drives her to a location she later described as “being past the Burger Bar, past the storage buildings and in a gravel lot.” He forcibly removes her from the pickup truck by the hair, drags her to an abandoned camper and forces her to perform oral sex while he stabs her in the head. She tries to defend herself, injuring her hands, before biting him in the penis.
Escaping, she makes her way up Waynesville Avenue about a half-mile to Brownwood Avenue and finds a home with the porch light on. The house’s owner calls the police. The APD tries to locate the suspect’s vehicle while warning area hospitals to watch out for a white male with an injured penis.
After taking the victim’s statement, APD officers leave the hospital and begin to search the Craven Street area for the camper. They locate a gold king-cab truck matching her description and, on further investigation, find a “blood trail coming from the RV.” The officers check the RV and find the door open. The camper is empty, but “there [is] a large amount of blood inside” as well as “blood on the passenger door of the truck.”
Around 10:25 a.m., the APD executes a search warrant on Wilson’s residence. “Items seized during the search included two plastic bags of hair, a small box of teeth, knives, saws, guns, handcuffs, leg irons, pornography, computers and cell phones,” according to a police report. Detectives discover that “most of the residence is uninhabitable. There is no running water or plumbing, and the interior is gutted of most walls.” Wilson lives in the one room of the house with heat. The APD also finds that “the interior of the house had two open areas in the floor where it appears there has been digging in the dirt foundation. An open crawl space is under the house and piles of fill dirt are located on the property, along with a burn pit.”
The forensic evidence from Wilson’s home is still being examined. Capt. Tim Splain, head of the APD’s criminal investigations, told Xpress via e-mail that “We will have to wait on the outcome of forensic evidence examination to see if Wilson is actually linked to the death of Kelly Lane Smith. … [T]his forensic examination by the SBI will likely take months or up to a year.”
Nov. 22, 2008: An APD detective interviews a former girlfriend of Wilson’s, who says that during her relationship with him, “she was physically and sexually assaulted on a number of occasions” and filed a domestic-violence order. She also tells the detective that “this man is so dangerous” and that she’s still afraid of Wilson.
Nov. 26, 2008: Wilson is arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill and first degree kidnapping from the Nov. 19 attack. He’s also charged with possession with intent to sell marijuana and psilocybin, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a house resorted to by persons using a controlled substance.
Dec. 2, 2008: The prostitute attacked in the May 11 incident identifies Wilson as her rapist in a photo lineup. The prostitute assaulted in the August incident now lives out of state, the warrant reports.
Dec. 8, 2008: The APD carries out a second search warrant on Wilson’s residence, along with surrounding properties. All of these properties are owned by Wilson’s mother, while he is responsible for the upkeep.
The warrant identifies Wilson as a “person of interest” in the Kelly Lane Smith murder and the previous prostitute assaults. It also requests the use of cadaver dogs “and if needed, forensic methods to better examine them for any possible human remains or blood that may be present.”
The police seize a plastic bag with a hair strand and pins, old U.S. coins, foreign coins, a recorder and tape, a digital recorder, film, a thumb drive and memory card, books, a photo album, a calendar, a wooden box, notebooks and “miscellaneous papers.”
Questions
Questions remain, both about the case and from those who knew Wilson.
For example, why didn’t the APD search Wilson’s residence or arrest him after the May and August assaults, when, according to the search warrants, the victims identified both his vehicle and home?
Splain informed Xpress that both victims gave the APD “fragmented information that did not lead investigators to
identify Lewis Kyle Wilson as the suspect” and that it was only after the November attack that “that investigators were able to backtrack and link the past reports” to Wilson.
Splain added that the prostitute attacked in May declined to press charges and that “she has also been charged a number of times since her report with prostitution and panhandling.” The victim in the August attack “is living out of state and refuses to pursue criminal charges in her case [and] also … she has outstanding warrants for prostitution and larceny.”
Prostitutes are particularly vulnerable population to violent crime and, due to the illegal nature of prostitution itself, they are often reluctant to talk to the police about dangers they may face.
“It is very difficult to convince a person engaged in the crime of prostitution to willingly aid law enforcement,” Splain states. “Most have already experienced the doubt and embarrassment that comes with testifying in court … especially in regard to sex offenses. Despite their victim status, their credibility is constantly questioned. Our APD Vice Investigators and Patrol Officers regularly arrest the prostitutes, but also serve as a contact and advisor for them … helping them receive assistance and services they may need. Most of the women will report crimes to let us know about what is happening in the street, but they are reluctant to follow through or pursue prosecution.”
Furthermore, “their logic is not what ‘we’ identify with. Most of the prostitute population are substance abusers, are currently or have been wanted by law enforcement, have a variety of mental issues, and an unstable home environment. We look at what they do through ‘our’ lens … they view the world and their actions through a different perspective.”
Knowing Wilson for almost a decade, Davis recalls that “he seemed generous, he seemed nice. Maybe there was something that seemed off, but that may just be looking back on it now. He seemed maybe too eager to help, like he was trying to be someone he wasn’t.”
Since news of his arrest came out, “It’s been complete mayhem among our group of friends,” Davis continues. “For me, it brought up a lot of anger because prostitutes as a population are such targets, because they’re viewed as lesser. It’s going to take a long time to process.”
“John,” who knew Wilson for several years, had a radically different impression.
“I absolutely believe he’s capable of committing these horrific crimes,” he told Xpress. “I am convinced he’s a sociopath. He’s violent, has no regard for his own safety or the safety of those around him, and barely understands right and wrong. He’s a liar and has run several fraud schemes. Yet no matter what he does, he always thinks of himself as a victim.”
“Lois,” a woman who briefly dated Wilson, recalls that “a large part of the reason I was attracted to him was that he seemed so respected in the community” and that “he seemed like a cool guy. He was really nice. He told me a lot of things I wanted to hear.”
After the allegations emerged, she noted that “he was very active in the community, he employed people, he was around in many, many different areas. It seems strange that no one noticed anything. After this all came out, the odd thing to me was that most people didn’t seem that surprised. It seemed like a lot of them knew he was off, but he was still this respected member of the community.”
She noted that, later on, she found out that “there were inconsistencies in his stories. He claimed this one girl was his close friend. Then it turns out she barely knew him.” She says she’s taken a lesson from the case.
“Look, I understand no one wants to be the bad guy, but I wish someone had told me that there was word he’d abused his girlfriend. Instead, all I heard was what a great guy he was,” she told Xpress. “It’s great that we’ve got this open-minded place where people are accepted for who they are, but we have to be careful not to let tolerance stand in the way of protecting the community. People need to tell others what they know.”
— David Forbes, staff writer
What did Smith do for a living that garnered him such “community respect”?
One of the contributing factors to the death of the Kelly Lane Smith and the assaults on the others is the illegal nature of their profession. Prostitutes do not have access to the same societal protections that people in so-called “straight jobs” do. Thus they are easier prey for lowlifes and monsters. A city ,such as Asheville, that claims to be progressive should should be working towards the legalization of prostitution. There is no good reason for it to be illegal, and several good reasons, such as the health, safety, and financial empowerment of the women involved, for it to be legal. Many of the negative associations that come with prostitution arise precisely because it is illegal. If you want to reduce crime, improve the health and safety of women, and take a true step toward progressive, or at least sane, values, legalize prostitution in Asheville.
It’s a state crime and not a local statute.
Edgy Mama: He did remodeling and construction work, employing a lot of good folks around the community. He surrounded himself with likable people, thus making himself accepted.
Yes, travelah, but it can be a non-priority for the APD. There are many things that Asheville could do, or simply refrain from doing, to take a step in the right direction. And that’s just from the council. As you mention its a State law. Why is there no group organized in Asheville to help repeal this law? Predators like this guy will keeping singling out these women for attacks because of their vulnerable, unequal status under the law. We need to legalize this profession (and it is a profession, and a legal one in many parts of the globe) to combat this.
Edgy Mama: Wilson, 31, had his own carpentry business.
It just makes me wonder what other horrible things he did and how far back it goes. Even if they don’t find evidence of other local murders in his home, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved. He had obviously done this type of thing before and was not new to it. The only question I would have is why he let the last victim go. He knew she would go to the police. Maybe he wanted to get caught so that everything would end. I really hope that he stays in prison..letting him go would probably just allow him to continue his insanity.
But, Johnny, if prostitution were legalized then prostitutes would pay taxes on their income. Just like the panhandlers and the guys who stand on street corners with signs, they have no interest in doing that.
I think the Bunny Ranch out in Nevada is a good demonstration of how the legal prostitution system would work here.
You got a pro business operation that’s screening for STD’s and keeping everyone reasonably safe, while making it a legit tax-paying business. Everybody Win – And maybe psycho’s like this can be screened out sooner.
i thought i knew him, was going on about 6 years now… he seemed a bit off at times but i never would have thought anything like this & he just lives a few doors down..
Lee, are you seriously implying that prostitutes would rather live under conditions of violence, fear and constant legal persecution, than to pay some taxes? Perhaps *YOU* resent taxes that much, but I would be utterly shocked if tax evasion was the reason for a single person to turn to prostitution even once during the last 40,000 years, which is how old the business is at least. For that matter, I think you’re perhaps a titch too jealous of the guys with signs next to interstate off ramps. I know, it looks like such a glamorous life, right? I’m almost willing to bet that you see prostitution and homelessness as being the result of political party affiliation, am I right? No, don’t answer that.
Peace to the community, even this memory will heal in time. Don’t trust too quickly, but also don’t let this translate into not trusting anyone. There’s got to be a middle ground- and listening our friends when they have bad experiences and feelings and taking them seriously is a good start.
I love it when the LEO lists the “items” taken from a residence with an implied understanding that these objects somehow make the accused more guilty.
How many of us have “knives”, “saws”, “guns”, and other common household objects in our homes? I will admit that leg irons are a bit odd, but are not illegal.
And since the buildings that the accused lived in and around were owned by his Mother and had been used as rental units in the past, who says or can prove that all that stuff was property of the accused.
I am not defending the alleged criminal here, but a modicum of common sense should be used.
Ironic too, that the very folks who decry and speak out about prostitutes are the first to hang the noose when a hooker turns up dead.
Lokel: I get your point, but the guy also had a box of teeth and a bag of hair…that is suspicious, to say the least.
Zanna, you are of course right. And Rob, unfortunately the Bunny Ranch is not a great example of how prostitution should be legalized. It is over-regulated, giving far too much power to the brothel owners and far too little power to the women. It should be normalized, legally speaking. Butcher, baker, hooker- there should be no difference between these professions under the eyes of the law, or the taxman.
LOKEL:
I had the same thoughts about the objects they discovered. I know lots of people who save baby hair or hair from significant haircuts (ponytails and such), the teeth could be his own or animal teeth, and obviously the fellow was a little kinky obviously so handcuffs are not surprising. The leg irons… well…. that is a bit odd.
Regardless, this guy is dangerous. The evidence that he killed Kelly Lane Smith is currently weak, but his total disregard to women and his violent history makes me glad he is in police custody. Friends who have worked for him or spent significant time with him will say the same, we are all better off with seriously twisted people like Kyle not amongst our community.
I think that this article touches on something that isn’t being discussed, and that is that the police had two cases with the same physical description, vehicle make and address and they did absolutely nothing. Even if the two prostitutes didn’t want to press charges, they should have looked into it. I usually defend the APD, but I feel that this is a major error. A life is a life.
Until the Asheville alternative scenes stop tolerating violence–especially violence against women–it will continue to plague us. There are other “off” people in our community who get a free pass, despite clearly being dangerous. It has to stop.
Regulate it, legalize it, normalize it … do whatever you want and there will still be a dark underbelly of society that can by preyed upon by evil doers. The human condition is complex. You can’t fix 100% of anything and as long as even one or two ‘underground individuals’ exist, so will predators.
Exactly where did he live?
And yes I agree with everything Orbit DVD just said!
I don’t quite get your point ItSickensMe. I know Asheville can be liberal, but I don’t think any scene is that alternative.
Is there an implication in these comments that someone if prostitution were legal this wouldn’t have happened?
…and on an other note, I think Orbit makes a very important point. How is it the APD has 500 man hours to devote to catching a few graffiti hoodlums, but couldn’t more fully investigate these incidents?
Am I missing something?
There was quite a discussion of the legalization of prostitution and its implications in the early comments. Johnny Lemuria specifically stated it was a contributing factor.
Not to get off-topic, Shad, but the APD never really spent “500 man hours to devote to catching a few graffiti hoodlums”. That was all a bunch of hooey to make it look like they did police work, when in reality they had a member of the community who turned informant and handed them a bunch of arrests.
Business owners complain and get results, Shad. They get more clout than you and that Orbitz comes out of his corner asking these questions should make you want to patronize his biz.
Zanna, you are totally off base in your assessment of me. Too funny. No, I don’t resent taxes. I pay mine gladly and am glad that I have a good, well paying job and can do my part. I don’t think this has anything to do with politics or anyone’s political affiliation. Don’t read things that aren’t there… You know what happens when you ASSume.
As far as the girls… those that I have met, and I have met a few, like being “self-employed”. I haven’t known them in relation to their profession though. :) I never said they turn tricks to avoid taxes. They do it for the money and in most cases to support their drug habits. Taxes would cut down on their take. It’s that simple. That being said, what is happening to these girls is horrible but I don’t think legalizing prostitution is going to take away the problem or eliminate streetwalkers altogether. If you do, then fine.
Shadmarsh, you are missing this from the WECAN Newsletter, November 2008. “. . .then turned their attention to the issue of traffic and parking on Clingman Avenue Extension. Responding to community concerns [1 (one!) former resident who now uses the neighborhood as a shortcut], [APD Community Resource Officer] asked the city to consider some options. . .including one-side parking.” [parking is now both sides]. I spoke up to point out the danger to artists, staff, and class participants walking to their cars after dark carrying unweildy objects. I was brushed off with “well, this is not the suburbs, they can’t expect to park in front of their door.” [The street is Clingman ave extended, near where all the women were assaulted]. The next traffic meeting will take place some time in January 2009. Contact Ken Putnam for date and time.
“Regulate it, legalize it, normalize it … do whatever you want and there will still be a dark underbelly of society that can by preyed upon by evil doers. The human condition is complex. You can’t fix 100% of anything and as long as even one or two ‘underground individuals’ exist, so will predators.”
Yes, John, so….what? I am not aiming for perfection, but there is so much improvement that would be so easy to do.
“Is there an implication in these comments that someone if prostitution were legal this wouldn’t have happened?
…and on an other note, I think Orbit makes a very important point. How is it the APD has 500 man hours to devote to catching a few graffiti hoodlums, but couldn’t more fully investigate these incidents?
Am I missing something?”
Shadmarsh, you answered your own question. If prostitution were legal, it would have the same legal standing as, say, the shop owners who complain about graffiti. Prostitutes are easier targets because they can’t go to the police as easily as other people because their profession is illegal.
Im all for the decriminalization of prostitution…but my hesitation comes from the wariness to turn this thread into a political wedge issue about whether if such and such a thing were legal this would never had happened (I don’t know if that was where this was headed or not, it just made me uneasy). I find that sort of thing, considering the nature of these crimes, to be unseemly at best…
Oh, I agree. It would be ridiculous to say that these particular crimes would never have happened if prostitution were legalized. There is, of course, no way to know that.
But if it were legalized, I think it would help keep women safer in the future.
How is it the APD has 500 man hours to devote to catching a few graffiti hoodlums, but couldn’t more fully investigate these incidents?
Shadmarsh, I agree and I also wonder:
How is it that APD is trying to convince River District studio owners to endanger artists by giving up curbside parking for the benefit of commuters and truckers. If APD succeeds then artists, staff and class participants will walk about a block in the dark to a parking lot.
We all know the River District where these murders occurred and the warrants were issued is not safe to walk at night.
it seems the hobo conspiracy network was right all along. i wonder if this investigation will shed more light on the ashton park “suicide” case.
I don’t think the topic of whether or not prostitution were legalized should be an issue. He would have done this regardless. Women most likely would not have gone home with him or dated him because of his personality or the ‘vibe’ he put off..that is why he had to resort to prostitutes. It is sad that they became the victims in this case, but it doesn’t change the fact that he had the tendency to do it. What these women did for a living is just a factor that made it easier for him to follow through with the crimes. Legalizing prostitution doesn’t fix abuse or murder. Plus..the Bunny Ranch charges about $1500.00 per session. Who could really afford that? I’m sure the price of sex would sky rocket if the state were involved. (taxes, etc.)
With all the commentary on legalizing prostitution, a critical point is being missed. These women living on the margins in Asheville or any other place with similar situations are not going to ever find themselves working in a brothel, legal or otherwise. They live on the edge with addictions, mental illness and deplorable home conditions. Theirs is a life of disease and hardened desperation that is not cured by a brothel. It is instead addressed by education and opportunity.
It is most probable that if there was a brothel available in Asheville, we would still have victims of sexual predators and that is what needs to be addressed.
Kyle’s a nobody, but he’s a gregarious nobody. Worse for him, he’s not too bright, but tries to come off as an expert in many subjects. So unfortunately nobody would believe him if he said water was wet.
That said: Notice please that Kyle’s own version of events is completely absent from these reports. He has told a mutual friend that the prostitute bit down on him first, and it was his response to that which caused him to brandish the knife. Think on that in the absence of all these piecemeal allegations, and it doesn’t sound at all far fetched.
Rushing to judgement is never right, and we all need to calm down until the most damning evidence is processed. If it turns out for instance that the hair and teeth found in his place are from a know victim and a DNA match is made, we can then know his guilt or innocence. Not before.
Calls are needed to District Attorney Ron Moore’s office, 828-232-2500, demanding that his office prosecute Lewis Kyle Wilson for all of the crimes he is accused of regardless if he has the cooperation of some of the victims. In jurisdictions all over this country people are prosecuted with OR without the cooperation of the victims.
The District Attorney is known for his indifference to crimess against women and the disenfranchised. He is an elected official and his decisions are political. Please inform him that this case will be remembered at election time.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/asheville-nc/T27VRSD69O523NQ43
“I’m sure the price of sex would sky rocket if the state were involved. (taxes, etc.)”
The State is involved right now. It is forcing an incredible premium on the sale of sex, because it has made it illegal. If you illegalized hairstyling, and applied the same penalties to hairstylists that you did to prostitutes, a decent haircut might cost $1500.00 as well.
Travelah, you are correct in this case is primarily about a sexual predator, and stopping those predators is the primariyl important thing. But to believe that the vast majority of prostitutes are “broken” people, or that if they are, that their problems would not become more manageable if the professions were legalized is to simply assume facts not in evidence.
“It is most probable that if there was a brothel available in Asheville, we would still have victims of sexual predators and that is what needs to be addressed.”
Right on Trav.
Whether or not you legalize & regulate something like prostitution, which has some very drastic impacts on either side of the scale, the real story here is sexual violence.
Alexander Thompson is correct, however leaning this or any other version of the story reads, we the public don’t have nearly the facts needed to make competent decisions on this man’s guilt and justice.
Regardless, the sexual violence that plagues these women (who often choose a life path of sexual aberrance as a last resort from lack having other opportunity’s) is something worth community concern.
I know from personal experience that these women who are in precarious situations do not seek any medical help or lawful assistance when they deal with constant states of sexual violence.
Due to history with drugs, threats of extracting information from them, or their very livelihood being illegal, these women have no realm of safety or welfare.
How many women were hurt, battered, abused, raped, or worse before they found the horrific remains of Kelly Smith? When these women feel that they can not seek help or safety, they don’t speak up.
These type of offenses are known to occur with repeat offenders. When sexual predators get addicted to the adrenaline rush of violence, it is difficult to control, much less stop. Had more women felt they had an opportunity to safety and sanctuary, perhaps Miss Kelly Smith would still be with her family and friends today.
Alexander Thompson:
Kyle was not interviewed for the article or his comments would have been included.
Kyle’s MO for years has been “she hit me first!”. I’m sure the other women that ID’d him hit him first, too.
Wake Up.
I agree with the writers who thought it was very one sided coverage. The accused wasn’t interviewed. The list of items taken and events all imply he did it and he’s a pervert and monster. It’s certainly not unbaised coverage. According to the accused, the hair and teeth are his own and the latest victim pulled the knife on him first. I’m not saying he is innocent, just that the article did a great job of making him guilty by association.
Any competent defense attorney would not allow her client to speak to a newspaper before trial. That is why Kyle was not interviewed.
Except for the comments from those that new him everything in the article is directly form the police and from police documents- the “facts” as the police know them so far.
If what is known was not reported, I’m sure some would take issue with that, too. And whether he killed Ms. smith is irrelevant to the 3 known women he raped and violently assaulted and who have positively ID’d him. Are you forgetting about them? Are they all liars or just have it wrong? Do 20 women need to identify him before some of you will get that your “friend” is a serial rapist and bloody attacker of women?
This man was dangerous for a long time and the more we know about him the better for all of our safety and for justice for ALL of his victims.
Please call the District Attorney’s office and demand he seek justice for ALL the victims. Where or not Ms. Smith turns out to be included as a victim is irrelevant to the other victims. The escalating violence of Kyle’s crimes would have led to murder eventually and that comes directly from the police, too. The only “accident” is that his latest victim wasn’t killed.
“I don’t quite get your point ItSickensMe. I know Asheville can be liberal, but I don’t think any scene is that alternative. ”
Chalkbox-do you believe me now? Look at these comments where people want to believe the best about their friend, despite all the evidence. And the people who think this is somehow the government’s fault.
It’s pretty simple–if we want the violent parts of Asheville’s alt-scenes to go away, we need to start rejecting the violent crazy people. Stop supporting and defending people who lose control and attack someone.
not to get off topic, but along with the APD’s missteps, there is one other aspect of this case that seems missing:
I have yet to hear serial killer or even serial rapist pinned with this case by any media source (although I am ready to admit that I may have missed it), which I believe would be the proper term if Kyle is guilty. I feel like its been common local knowledge that there has been something awful going on in the river district for years…why not just call it what it is? I live right near this guy’s house. Out of safety why not alert people to the reality of the danger. oh wait, we wouldn’t want to scare away the tourists, now would we.
Call your local media and demand they report fully. Kyle is a SERIAL RAPIST and ATTACKER and should be identified as such.
And for all you law and order types that are going to scream that he hasn’t had a trial yet- go ahead. He is certainly entitled to full due process but as one of his victims, I am just as entitled to call him what I know him to be.
“*Stop supporting and defending people who lose control and attack someone. *”
Is there some kind of context and proof for this, or is this just random, out-of-context ranting?
I hope they will let the community know if they ever let him out of jail or he makes bond. Those of us who knew him don’t want him coming around. He knows where most of us live.
In the interest of justice, the victims should be granted immunity to encourage their testimony & extended to any other victims who want to come forward with information.
That any person could be at large & capeable of these crimes, is a much larger threat to society than anything these women have outstanding warrants for.
Their suffering in this case is unimaginable. There’s completely no need to punish them further to see that justice is served.
Holding Wilson on Bond is an egregious betrayal of Justice & the community at large.
I believe the women have been offered immunity but they don’t want the embarassment of a trial and having to publicly discuss sex activity. The last part of that is my guess.
Call Ron Moore, 828-232-2500, & tell him to prosecute all of Kyle’s crimes with or without victims cooperation. Let him know the citizens of Asheville are watching this case closely.
Call or e-mail Ken Putnam 259-5943, kputnam@ashevillenc.gov, and tell him Asheville citizens are concerned about the safety of female pedestrians after dark in the River District. Tell him citizens concerned for safety outnumber the one studio owner with a parking lot, one commuter and one APD police officer who claimed to be speaking for “the WECAN community” when they asked him to reduce curbside parking outside studios on Clingman Ave extended.
How interesting “Potter” that you are so concerned for the safety of your pottery shop but not one ounce of sympathy or support for Wilson’s victims.
Whatever.
OUTrage,
Where were you when we held a memorial for the woman who died in Aston Park? Where are you when I try to convince the neighborhood assoc. to help these victims get off the streets instead of pressuring APD to jail them? Where are you when I help my homeless neighbors?
The point is to make the neighborhood safe for everyone by building community and having pedestrian activity on the streets. Wilson’s victims would be safer if they and truckers were not the only ones on the street after dark.
whatever
Um, excuse you, Ashkat, but you don’t know me and you have no idea what my political actions are.
I have spent my entire life as a professional social justice advocate so I think you should reconsider your assumptions.
And I am also the one who has spent more time than anyone ensuring the public and appropriate authorities are fully aware of Wilson’s threat to all of us.
Rape and mufder are crimes no matter who the person is all serial killers “fool” everyone around them every time. They are nice they are intelligent but inside pure evil monsters who trick everyone thats how they work capture their victims by winning their confidence. Example Green River killer Ted Bundy just to name a few.