Sex Offender Charged in Murder of Rowan Co. Woman Has Long Criminal History
ROWAN COUNTY, NC – A convicted sex offender is locked up and charged with the murder of a Rowan County woman.
Detectives arrested 50-year-old Donald Frye early Wednesday morning at his home in Kannapolis.
Warrants say Frye killed Sheila Godfrey last Thursday at her home on Lyerly Pond Road, using a blunt object and an electrical cord.
“Nobody deserves to be treated like that. Nobody,” says Godfrey’s neighbor Murl Kidd.
Faye’s jail record shows a history of violent acts.
He’s spent almost 13 years of his life in North Carolina prisons, with multiple convictions including indecent liberty with a child and second degree sexual offense.
“Makes you wonder why people have a chance to even walk the streets. Should still be in prison,” Kidd says.
Godfrey’s neighbors say they’d never seen Frye around, but investigations say he did have some connection to Godfrey.
Detectives say after he killed her, he stole her debit card and her SUV.
Someone recognized Frye in surveillance images, where he was caught on camera buying things with her debit card.
In the suspect’s Kannapolis neighborhood, people say they’d seen lots of late night activity at Frye’s home.
They say his father owns an adult book store just next door.
Back in Rowan County, neighbors say they’ll miss Godfrey.
“Infuriates me. Because she was a neighbor. And she was a good woman. Nobody deserved to be treated like that,” Kidd says.
