There was bad blood between the daughter of a Lobelia woman found murdered Feb. 9 and the man charged with killing her, family members say.

Terrence Rodricus Elliott, 31, is charged with raping and murdering 77-year-old Alice McLeod McCrimmon. Elliott has an extensive criminal history, including several convictions for breaking and entering, according to court records.

Annie McCrimmon, the granddaughter of the victim, told The Pilot Friday that her mother, Mary Worrell, and Elliott used to be neighbors and that Elliot held a grudge against her. Annie McCrimmon is an Atlanta businesswoman.

She said Worrell and Elliott exchanged “words and arguments.” She said she does not know the source of their dispute.

“She (Alice McCrimmon) didn’t bother a soul,” the granddaughter said from her mother’s home in the Johnsonville community of Harnett County.

Annie McCrimmon said the family is relieved that an arrest has been made and that everyone plans to keep up with the case through the trial and its resolution.

Alice McCrimmon was found beaten to death in her mobile home on McKeithen Road, which is off Lobelia Road, around 1 a.m. Feb. 9. Worrell and her son discovered the body.

Her family reported that McCrimmon’s assailant took the rings from her fingers, along with a boom box she used to play gospel music, cash, a television set, a microwave oven and some old coins, including those damaged when her home burned last year.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Elliott, whose nickname is “Toobie,” Thursday at his home a few miles from McCrimmon’s home.

In addition to first-degree murder and first-degree rape, Elliott is charged with first-degree burglary, larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen goods. He is being held without bond in the Moore County jail.

Elliott lives with his mother in a mobile home at the corner of Lobelia and Byrd roads near Vass. His elderly grandmother lives next door.

A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said he occasionally saw Elliott working in his yard and going back and forth to his grandmother’s trailer. He spoke to him a few times.

“I haven’t had any trouble with him,” the man said. “I had heard that he had been in trouble with the law before, stealing a bunch of stuff. That made me a little nervous. I didn’t want him coming over here.”

The man said Elliott came into his driveway about two weeks ago asking to borrow a socket wrench.

“I didn’t want him to see in my garage,” he said. “I didn’t trust him.”

Extensive Criminal History

According to a check of court records, Elliott is a high school dropout who has had numerous run-ins with the law. He has been in jail or prison at least three times.

In April 1987, he was convicted of attempting to burn a building and stealing a firearm. Charges of arson and possession of stolen property were dropped as part of a plea bargain. He was sentenced to four years in prison as a youthful offender, ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling and finish high school.

Elliott was charged with felonious breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen property in November 1989. Prosecutors dismissed the charges in June 1990. Elliott pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in January 1990 and again in January 1991, and had his driver’s license revoked.

He was charged with misdemeanor larceny and a probation violation in July 1990. He pleaded guilty to the larceny charge in September 1990. He was ordered to do 24 hours of community service, go to Alcoholics Anonymous and get counseling for substance abuse.

Elliott was charged in September 1998 with two counts of breaking and entering and one count of possession of stolen goods. He was charged in July 1999 with four counts of breaking and entering motor vehicles, two counts of breaking and entering, one count of first-degree burglary and a probation violation.

In January 2000, he pleaded guilty to two counts each of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and breaking and entering. The other charges were dropped by the state.

He was sentenced to six to eight months in prison, ordered to pay $3,600 in restitution, not to use any controlled substances and seek treatment for drug addiction. For the probation violation, a six- to eight-month suspended sentence from a previous conviction was activated in May 2000.

Funeral services for Mrs. McCrimmon were held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Church of God in Lobelia, where she was “an active and faithful member,” according to her granddaughter.

Annie McCrimmon recalled trying to encourage her grandmother to move to another neighborhood or to change her living arrangements several years ago. She said that the homes of both her mother and her grandmother were destroyed by fire in the past two years and the family was concerned about Alice McCrimmon’s welfare. Worrell was living near Vass at the time her home was burned.

“But when we mentioned that to her, she just looked at us and said, ‘Baby, let Jesus fix it,’” McCrimmon said. “It was a crying shame. She was harmless and defenseless and couldn’t protect herself.”

The granddaughter said that both of the fires occurred under suspicious circumstances and the family had opinions about the perpetrator, but she said no one was ever charged or convicted.

McCrimmon said her grandmother may have been frail because of her age but described her as “still spry.” She said that McCrimmon enjoyed traveling and was still driving her vehicle. She sometimes even drove to Connecticut, where she spent 14 years as a housekeeper.

“There was not one thing wrong with my grandmother,” she said. “She didn’t have high blood pressure and didn’t take any pills.”

In fact, McCrimmon said her grandmother, who had seven other grandchildren, sold produce at neighborhood stores and in other places to make money. McCrimmon said that her grandmother raised much of the produce herself, including turnip greens, sweet potatoes, peas and watermelons. She also bought vegetables and fruits at produce markets and sold them elsewhere. Sometimes she sold produce from the back of her van.

The van was in the shop for repairs at the time she was killed. Her pickup truck had been stolen. It was found on West Michigan Avenue in Southern Pines later on the day that her body was discovered. The truck had a flat tire.