On Deadly Ground

Beverly Carter was born Beverly Lynn Lounds on December 20th, 1963, at McClellan Air Force Base in Anniston, Alabama, the daughter of an Air Force father. She met Carl Carter, a construction worker three years her senior, while working at a dairy bar in Texas, and they married at a courthouse with no wedding dress and no reception. They had three sons, Carl Jr, Christopher and Chad, and spent the early years of their marriage moving between trailers and relatives' homes. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it In the early 2000s she trained as an estate agent and joined Crye-Leike Realtors in North Little Rock, becoming one of the firm's top salespeople and once selling $12 million of property in a single year. By 2014, at fifty, she had lost sixty pounds, had cosmetic surgery, trained for marathons and renewed her wedding vows. Her face was on billboards across the Little Rock area, and she did not drink.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now They lived at Randall Drive in Jacksonville, Arkansas, were three months behind on rent, had had their power cut off twice, owed $47,000 and had no income.

Two weeks before the murder the pair began planning a kidnapping for ransom. They drove around West Little Rock looking at expensive houses and cars but decided the security was too good. details of the account remain covered until revealed They researched local agents online, recognised Beverly from her billboards and chose her because she was married and might bring a ransom. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it They also picked three other female agents as fallbacks.

On September 25th, 2014, Beverly had a good day at work, won $50 in an office contest and texted her husband that she loved him. At 3.58 p.m. she called a TextMe number, 914-206-1776, for fifteen minutes and forty-five seconds. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He bound her wrists and mouth with green duct tape and dragged her downstairs, leaving heel marks in the dust. He put her in the boot of his black Ford Fusion, photographed her and sent the picture to his wife with the caption 'Help', followed by 'it's done'.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now He returned home at midnight without the card or the PIN. details of the account remain covered until revealed At 1 a.m. they sent Carl Sr a text from Beverly's phone saying 'sorry, phone being dead, having drinks now', which convinced him something was wrong because his wife never drank. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

At about 4 a.m. they bought a shovel and topsoil at Walmart. details of the account remain covered until revealed She suffocated over about five minutes. He buried her in a shallow grave and drove home; later that morning, after the burial, the couple went to Waffle House for hash browns and coffee. Beverly's body was found only because one elbow had been left above the dirt.

Carl Sr had called 911 at 9.30 p.m. on September 25th after finding Beverly's car in the driveway, her purse open on the passenger seat and the house door open. Investigators found his fingerprints all over the house, a person-shaped disturbance in the dust and tyre tracks on the lawn. Neighbours reported a thin white man in a black car. On September 26th more than 200 volunteers, including estate agents whose offices closed for the day, searched fields and roads. David Goldstein of Crye-Leike coordinated a grid search from Stone Lynx Golf Course in North Little Rock. Nothing came of the leads.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Police put the house under surveillance. details of the account remain covered until revealed A search of his home found Beverly's iPhone with the SIM card removed.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He played a recording of Beverly's voice saying she was unharmed and asking Carl not to call police, then claimed the recording had been made with voice-synthesis software. Her husband and son identified it as her voice.

At 12.30 p.m. on September 30th police found Beverly in a shallow grave at the Argos Concrete Company, Arkansas Route 5 in Cabot. The medical examiner found death by asphyxiation from an airway obstruction caused by six layers of duct tape over her nose and mouth. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She said the plan had been to demand $100,000, although Beverly had $130 in her bank account. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Much of the evidence from his interviews, his car and his home was suppressed because of an overbroad warrant and because he had asked for a lawyer, but the voice recording was allowed. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed He showed no emotion and gave a peace sign to the cameras as he was led away.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The request was refused. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

Carl Carter Sr still lives in Scott, saying the house holds too many memories to leave. Carl Jr runs the Beverly Carter Foundation, which trains estate agents in safety, and became an estate agent himself to understand the risks. Beverly is buried at Pine Crest Memorial Park and Garden Mausoleum. The house at Old River Drive became a place of vigils, sold below asking price and has since changed hands several times.