A Richmond County Grand Jury indicted Melvin Bynum, 43, last week on charges of first-degree murder. The Oct. 4 hearing will be to hear motions from the attorneys.
Bynum is accused of strangling his wife, Marnita, 40, and leaving her body in the trunk of her car along a rural Richmond County road.
A Richmond County sheriff’s deputy found her body on Aug. 2 on the side of E.V. Hogan Drive off N.C. 177 near Hamlet. Another deputy had noticed the car parked there the night before. The officer noticed a strong smell coming from the trunk and soon returned with a search warrant.
Inside, the deputy found Marnita Bynum’s decomposing body. The murder weapon, a leather strap, was still wrapped around her neck.
The investigation led officers to believe that someone had removed the rings from her fingers and taken her pocketbook, cellular phone, car keys and identification. Those items are still missing.
The day before her body was discovered, Melvin Bynum told the congregation at Cry Out Loud Ministries in Sanford that his wife was home with a toothache, investigators said.
The Bynums had been having marital problems and were going to get a divorce. Melvin Bynum had filed for divorce in June in Moore County.
Officers from Richmond, Moore and Lee counties worked together during the investigation.
Moore County was involved because the Bynums lived together in Pinebluff. They moved from Lee County to the home off U.S. 1 in January.
Authorities still don’t know where the murder occurred, but they did concede that Melvin Bynum was a suspect from the beginning. Officers questioned Bynum for 16 hours on the day his wife’s body was found. Officers also searched the Bynums’ home in Pinebluff.
Deputies described Melvin Bynum as cooperative, but upon his arrest Aug. 19, deputies changed their story.
On the steps of the Richmond County courthouse Aug. 20, Richmond County Sheriff Dale Furr said that Bynum hampered the investigation by using fear and coercion to get members of the congregation not to speak to officers.
Bynum’s arrest came a day after Marnita’s mother, Jacquelyn Carter, made a televised plea for those who knew anything to come forward.
Bynum is being held without bond in the Richmond County Jail. Prosecutors haven’t said whether they will seek the death penalty.
Prosecutors are awaiting the return of DNA evidence taken from the murder weapon. The SBI Crime Lab has a backlog, and it is not known when the evidence will be returned.
The investigation is continuing and deputies said they welcome any additional information. The phone number of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department is (910) 997-8283. The number for the Moore County Sheriff’s Department is (910) 947-2931.
Investigators say that marital problems appeared to be the motive. Marnita Bynum had formed a crisis center for women at the church, which the Bynums had started the church together.
The couple had two sons, Marquail Lamont, 20, and Brock Lavar, 17. The motion filed Aug. 20 asking that Melvin be granted bond claims that he has three children.
Neither of Bynum’s lawyers, Robert T. Reives II of Sanford or Eddie Meacham of Pinehurst, could be reached for comment. Meacham’s office said that he was out of the office for the entire week.
