Search warrants shed light on Burke murder cases

Newly filed search warrants reveal an alleged financial motive in a Burke County double homicide, new evidence surrounding another fatal shooting, and additional details about the death of a woman found shot in a tent last month.

The warrants shed new light on three unrelated July cases that left Raheim and Carla Murray, Kendall Lineberger, and Amanda Brooke Williams dead, detailing what investigators say happened before and after each killing and the evidence that led them to their suspects.

JAMAR PROPST & TOSHA LEWIS 

Jamar Propst and Tosha Lewis shocked the county when they allegedly killed Raheim and Carla Murray in mid-July over a $75,000 inheritance that Carla had received, according to court documents recounting an interview between police and Propst after the discovery of the bodies.

A search warrant from Aug. 18 states that following the murders, Propst and Lewis removed the Murrays’ personal property from the residence before replacing it with their own things.

The arrested couple, who were both indicted on two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder in early August, rented a U-Haul and transported the Murrays’ belongings to a storage space in Morganton.

According to an Aug. 10 search warrant, Carla was a “cooperating witness” in the murder of Eddie Greene, a robbery-gone-wrong cold case from Catawba County in 2008. A grand jury indicted Propst on a murder charge related to the case in 2023.

Previous court documents uncovered other grisly details, such as Lewis telling the Murrays she and Propst had argued before she stayed at their home, leaving the door open for Propst to enter and shoot the victims in their bed.

Lewis allegedly used facial recognition on Carla’s phone after her death to unlock the device before transferring nearly $19,000 out of the victim’s Cash App, according to the summary of Propst’s police interview from July.

Propst then buried the two bodies in a park in Glen Alpine.

KENNETH POTTER

On July 25, Kenneth Potter allegedly shot and killed Kendall Lineberger.

According to an Aug. 3 search warrant, when Carrie Bolick arrived home from the grocery store that evening, she got into an argument with Lineberger, whom she was in a romantic relationship with.

Potter, who lived about 150 feet away and had previously dated Bolick as well, entered the home with a friend during the argument, brandishing a baseball bat. Bolick hid in a bedroom, where she allegedly told police she heard an altercation followed by a gunshot.

When investigators later reviewed nearby surveillance footage, they noted hearing multiple gunshots before Potter’s red BMW convertible left the scene 11 minutes later.

Despite the efforts of first responders, Lineberger died. While attempting to save his life, deputies noticed a spent shell casing on the floor, as well as blood on the furniture and items around the room.

During the investigation, the father of Potter’s current girlfriend, Trinity Cook, approached police, explaining he had been sent by Cook’s mother to pick her up after she sent a text message saying “Plz come get me. Plz plz Kenny just did something bad.”

Although the search warrant states Cook initially denied being in the area of the incident in a July 27 interview, she eventually said she used her phone to send the message to her mother.

Potter returned to the scene while investigators were still on-site. Among the items seized during the search warrant were shell casings, 9mm ammunition and a magazine, “possible marijuana,” a bag with white powder, and two cell phones.

DEATH ON BARUS POND LOOP

On the morning of July 20, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office responded to a tent on Barus Pond Loop, where they found Amanda Brooke Williams deceased in her tent, blood coming from the left side of her neck from what appeared to be a gunshot.

Officers were responding to a 911 call stating Williams had been shot by her boyfriend. Through interviews, they discovered a person of interest had fled the scene in a gray 2007 BMW.

The vehicle was identified as belonging to Troy Allen Deese, whose telephone data indicated he was in Virginia. Nearly three weeks after Virginia authorities arrested and interviewed Deese, he was transferred back to Burke County, where officers charged him with felony concealment of death.

According to the search warrant, Deese admitted to using the vehicle on the morning of the victim’s death and to placing the firearm used in Williams’ death in the passenger floorboard of the vehicle.

As of Aug. 24, Deese has not been charged with murder.