Inset: Sara Graham (Federal Bureau of Investigation). Background: News footage of Connie Graham leaving court after her sentencing (WPDE).
A North Carolina woman who was charged with murdering her teenage stepdaughter confessed to the crime in jail.
Connie Graham, 65, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday in connection with the death of her stepdaughter, 18-year-old Sara Graham. Authorities said Sara Graham was last seen alive on Feb. 4, 2015, and was declared dead on June 1, more than a decade later. That same month, Connie Graham and her sons, 42-year-old Bobby Matthew McLellan and 29-year-old Luke Locklear, were arrested in connection with the teenager”s death.
According to courtroom reporting by local ABC affiliate WPDE, Connie Graham admitted in court that she hit her teenage stepdaughter in the head with a hammer while they were having a fight the morning the teen went missing.
WPDE reported that Robeson County District Attorney John Lanier shared more details about the investigation into Sara Graham’s disappearance, including how Hubert Graham, Connie Graham’s husband and Sara Graham’s father, noticed that his van was missing when he returned home from a workshop on the morning of Feb. 4, 2015. He assumed that Sara had taken the van to drive herself to her shift at Walmart.
But Sara Graham never made it to work. Police were notified that the van had been found abandoned on the side of a road. Witnesses said they saw the van driving toward the location, followed by a silver BMW. Connie Graham owned a silver BMW.
Connie Graham lied to police and said Sara Graham left their home in the van around 6:30 a.m. That same morning, she purchased cleaning supplies from Dollar General and told her brother “she had a lot of clothes she was trying to get rid of and clean out.”
Sara Graham was reported missing by her family members, including Connie Graham, who was a deputy at the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office at the time. One of Connie Graham’s colleagues asked her what was going on with the case, and she told him, “I can’t tell you because you might have to testify against me.”
Lanier said Connie Graham burned the bed that Sara Graham slept in and refused to take a polygraph test. The sheriff’s office fired her over those actions.
Lanier also described the alleged role Connie Graham’s sons played in helping her cover up the killing. Connie Graham told her former colleague that McLellan was involved a “little bit.” Authorities said McLellan told his co-workers he had to leave because of a family emergency the morning Sara Graham went missing. He also told his girlfriend, who reportedly came forward to police, to lie about his whereabouts that day.
Some of Connie Graham’s most damning comments came after Sara Graham was officially declared dead. Lanier said that when McLellan came to his mother’s home with some other family members, Connie Graham told them, “[T]hey think this is how we did it, but we didn’t do it that way.”
She also told Locklear, “Sara should have stayed where she came from.”
Lanier said that after Connie Graham was put in jail following her arrest, she admitted to the crime to her cellmates. They told authorities that Connie Graham referred to her stepdaughter as “that girl or that b—.” According to Lanier, Connie Graham told her cellmates that she “went in the room… that morning… [she] turned the light on and it woke Sara up. Sara got mad. There was a verbal altercation. At which time, there was a physical shoving match. She said [she] picked up a hammer, hit her in the head. She falls. [She] said, at the time she fell, [she] said, ‘Get up, act like an adult.'”
In a phone call from jail, Connie Graham said that if her husband found out about what she did, she would be “in a bind.”
During the investigation, Hubert Graham told authorities that his wife became “jealous or confrontational with him about how he treated Sara, as opposed to her children.” He said the last time he saw his daughter was the night before she went missing, when he kissed her goodnight.
Connie Graham told the court during her sentencing hearing on Wednesday, “I regret what happened.”
Sara Graham’s mother, Cathy Armenta, called Connie Graham a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who was evil and deceitful. She added, “She covered up my baby girl’s murder. And even showed up to a family gathering for prayer.”
Lanier said Sara Graham’s family supported the plea agreement. Connie Graham was sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison.
McLellan was charged with being an accessory after that fact, conspiracy and altering or destroying evidence. Locklear was charged with conspiracy and altering or destroying evidence. They are scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 7.
Sara Graham’s remains have not been found. Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins told WPDE in a statement, “The investigation has recently led sheriff’s investigators to an area where evidence indicates Sara’s remains were disposed of in 2015. Specialized Search Team divers, along with anthropology specialists from North Carolina State University, the FBI, the Robeson County Fire Marshal’s Office, and other assisting agencies and personnel are actively involved in the ongoing search and recovery efforts. This is a very deliberate and methodical process, and we remain committed to doing everything possible to locate Sara’s remains and return her to her family.”
