Investigators say vehicle records, a home search and two discoveries near Simpson Park challenged claims that Raheim and Carla Murray were away.
MORGANTON, N.C. — For several days in July, investigators say, the explanation for Raheim and Carla Murray’s absence was that the married couple had gone to Myrtle Beach. By the end of that week, both had been identified as homicide victims and two people connected to their home were facing murder charges.
The allegation that the Murrays were on vacation has emerged as an important thread in the case against Jamar Quarmaine Propst and Tosha Lee Lewis, both 36. A search warrant later described investigators’ belief that Lewis used Carla Murray’s cellphone, drove her vehicle and told officers the couple was away while she cared for their home and dogs. Propst and Lewis have since been indicted on two counts each of first-degree murder and felony conspiracy. The claims in the warrant remain allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent.
Carla Murray, 39, and Lewis had worked together at a smoke shop, according to a statement attributed to Propst in the warrant. Investigators say Lewis knew Carla had recently received an inheritance of about $75,000. The warrant alleges that Lewis went to the Murrays’ residence before their expected trip and told them that she and Propst were having problems. According to Propst’s reported account, that explanation gave Lewis a reason to remain at the house until the couple fell asleep.
Propst then allegedly entered through a rear door that Lewis had left open and shot Carla and her 31-year-old husband, Raheim McClain Murray, while they were sleeping, according to the warrant description published by The Paper. Investigators allege the deaths occurred July 13. The warrant attributes to Propst an assertion that the couple were targeted for money. No trial has been held, and the detailed account is not a finding by a judge or jury. The materials reviewed for this report do not include final medical examiner findings independently confirming the manner described in the warrant.
What investigators allege happened afterward helps explain why the couple’s absence did not immediately produce a missing-person case. The warrant says Lewis and Propst cleaned the residence and kept the bodies inside a Buick registered to Lewis before moving them to the Glen Alpine area. It also says the defendants moved into the Murrays’ home with their four children. Investigators believed Lewis continued communicating through Carla’s phone, creating the appearance that Carla remained reachable even though authorities now allege she was already dead.
Lewis also allegedly presented a specific travel story. According to the warrant, she told officers she drove Carla to Myrtle Beach on July 18 in Carla’s silver Dodge Durango and that Raheim traveled separately on his motorcycle. She said she was using the Durango until the couple returned, the document states. License-plate camera records provided investigators with only part of that account: the Durango was recorded traveling to Myrtle Beach on July 18 and coming back July 19. Raheim’s motorcycle, however, had last been recorded July 6, according to the reported warrant.
While investigators were examining the couple’s recent movements, an unrelated-looking discovery in Glen Alpine pushed the case in another direction. A Burke County parks employee found two shovels covered with brush near the nature trail at Simpson Park on July 20, according to the warrant account. The employee later noticed disturbed earth about 90 feet away from the trail, with trimmed branches concealing the area. The Burke County Sheriff’s Office described the resulting call as a report of suspicious circumstances and responded with Glen Alpine police.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assisted the following day as human remains were recovered near the trail. The remains were identified as Raheim Murray after an autopsy and fingerprint comparison, according to the warrant reporting. Investigators had not received a missing-person report for him at that stage, the document said. They also had not made direct contact with Carla, even though the warrant says Lewis represented that she was communicating with Carla by text. The contrast between those communications and the discovery of Raheim’s remains became part of the developing inquiry.
Investigators searched the Murrays’ residence July 24. According to the warrant, they found .22-caliber projectiles and also located Lewis’ Buick at the property. Propst was interviewed later that day and provided the account that forms a large portion of the publicly reported warrant narrative. Lewis was arrested while driving a blue Mazda, and investigators sought possible evidence from that vehicle. Authorities have not publicly established which pieces of recovered evidence, if any, will ultimately be admitted in court.
The warrant also describes investigators’ theory that the defendants obtained money through the victims’ phones. It alleges that their faces were used to unlock the devices after their deaths and remove passcodes. Lewis then allegedly transferred $19,000 from Carla’s Cash App account into her own. Investigators believed Carla’s cellphone continued to be used, but the device had not been recovered as of July 27, according to the warrant report. Financial and digital records could become important evidence if prosecutors seek to substantiate the alleged motive and timeline.
By the morning of July 25, deputies had arrested Propst and Lewis on first-degree murder and felony conspiracy warrants related to Raheim Murray. The Burke County Sheriff’s Office said the arrests occurred without incident. Hours later, investigators found another set of human remains near the Simpson Park nature trail. The discovery led authorities to obtain an additional murder warrant and conspiracy warrant against each defendant even before the second victim’s identity was publicly announced.
Two days later, the sheriff’s office confirmed the second victim was Carla Murray and said her relatives had been notified. The identification joined the two discoveries that had initially occurred four days apart and established that both members of the married couple had been found near the trail. The investigation ultimately drew assistance from several agencies, including the SBI, FBI, Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, Glen Alpine Police Department, Morganton Department of Public Safety and Myrtle Beach Police Department. Myrtle Beach’s involvement was consistent with investigators examining the account of the supposed trip, although the sheriff’s release did not detail each agency’s specific role.
The case has since moved beyond the initial arrest-warrant stage. Propst and Lewis were indicted Aug. 6 on two murder counts and two felony conspiracy counts each, according to local court reporting. The indictment eliminated the need for an earlier probable-cause proceeding and placed the case in Superior Court. Their next appearance was reported as scheduled for Sept. 28. Both defendants had been held without bond after their arrests.
Several questions that surrounded the first discovery have therefore been replaced by a more detailed prosecution theory, but the essential legal questions remain unresolved. Investigators have described an alleged financial motive, an alleged false vacation narrative, vehicle movements, phone use and evidence recovered from the Murrays’ residence. None of those assertions amounts to a conviction. The sheriff’s office has continued to describe the investigation as ongoing, and the evidence supporting the state’s account will face further scrutiny as the murder and conspiracy cases proceed through Superior Court.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 28, 2026.