JUNCTION CITY, Kan. – The man charged with killing former Big Horn County Sheriff William Joy during a Billings carjacking is also suspected of killing a North Carolina woman.
Donald Gray, Jr., a transient from North Carolina abducted and stabbed Joy to death earlier in June, claiming he needed a car.
The new charges stem from a missing woman case from May 28, when an unidentified body was recovered in Junction City, Kan., about 130 miles west of Kansas City, Junction City Police Chief Trish Giordano said in a Thursday news release.
The female’s body was in such bad condition that she could not be immediately identified, Junction City police said.
On Thursday, police identified her as Tamra Ann Gibson, 59, of Asheville, N.C. She was last seen in North Carolina on May 22 and reported missing two days later. Her vehicle was found burned June 1 in Laramie, Wyo.
Police identified Gray Jr. as the suspect, and he now faces charges of kidnapping, robbery and murder of Gibson.
He remains in custody at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.
Gray was arrested June 10 in Billings following a routine traffic stop. According to court documents, officers became suspicious when he didn’t have ID, gave a false name and had blood on his shirt that wasn’t his.
Yellowstone County prosecutors said he later admitted to taking Joy’s car when he stopped at the post office and stabbing the 81-year-old man multiple times in the chest.
Joy worked more than 25 years in law enforcement and was the father of Billings City Councilmember Denise Joy.
