On the day she died, Patricia Blakely Kimble was both in love with and afraid of her husband Ted. After years of loving him and hoping for his love in return, the two were married in the spring of 1994. Ted’s father, a Baptist pastor, officiated. It was the happiest day of Patricia’s life, but for Ted the marriage was only a necessary step to further his career. His boss had told him that he could take over his business once he found a wife and settled down.
Just over a year into the Kimble marriage, Ted had already checked out. He wasn’t affectionate and he began purchasing life insurance on Patricia without her consent. Deeply religious, Patricia was torn between her devotion to her wedding vows and the concerns she had for her safety.
Join us at the quiet end for In the House of the Holy. Two days after his wife perished in a house fire, Ted tried to collect on her life insurance. When he was turned away because Patricia had never taken the required medical exam, he was enraged. The police took note of this, as they were already looking at him as a suspect in Patricia’s death. But Ted had an ironclad alibi. Was he innocent or could Ted have had a co-conspirator? Investigators believed the latter, leading them to look more closely at Ted’s relationship with his younger brother Ronnie Kimble.
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Sources
North Carolina Department of Insurance Investigation
PWC Consulting, August 15, 2006, Ronnie Lee Kimble
Unholy Covenant by Lynn Chandler-Willis
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