Lonely Ladies
Dorothy Louise Woods-Johnson was left a widow after a tragic car accident killed her husband. Her friends and family knew she needed to get back out there, make you new friends and have some fun. At 35, she was too young to be alone in front of the TV every night. She would soon meet Carl Stephen Moseley.
On a Friday night in April 1991, Dorothy met up with friends at the SRO Country Club in Winston-Salem. Taking her own car so she could leave when she wanted. She reportedly had a pleasant evening and danced with a number of men. It was just after midnight when she said goodnight to her friends and left for home. But she never made it.
On Saturday the 13th of April, 1991, her naked body was discovered at a nearby housing development. This was not the scene of her death.
Medical examiners found bruising to her throat and face, and multiple knife wounds. It wasn’t until later that day that they discovered who the body was when relatives rang the Sheriff’s Office to report her missing. Her car was found still in the car park of the country club.
Moseley came to the station
‘I read in the paper you wanted to talk to me’ – Headquarters Detective, Mar. 1992
Seeing his image in the newspaper Moseley brought himself to the station for questioning, where he admitted to dancing with the missing woman. But his alibi was solid.
The Second Girl
Deborah Jane Henley, 38, lived in Old Town with her parents. She was not a drinker but she liked to dance and, like Dorothy, her friends convinced her to go for a night out at The SRO Country Club on July 25th.
Again, Deborah reportedly had a lovely evening. She danced, drank soft drinks, and listened to the band. But when she hadn’t returned home by 3 am her parents began to worry. When none of her friends had any answers as to Deborah’s whereabouts her parents rang the Sheriff’s Office.
That afternoon a farmer found her naked body in his cornfield. Like the first body, this was not the scene of her death. She too had been strangled and had facial bruising.
Anonymous Call
The caller said he’d lent his car to a friend on the night Deborah went missing, and that when it was returned he was asked not to mention it to anyone. The caller agreed that if it was discovered that his friend was the murderer he would testify to what he had said. The friend’s name was Carl Moseley.
This connection to Dorothy’s case led the investigators to obtain a search warrant for Moseley’s home and crime scene investigators went in. They left with a number of bags of physical evidence. And Moseley was arrested: held without the privilege of bail, whilst they continued to investigate and awaited the results of DNA testing.
Previous COnvictions
In 1989, Moseley took Laura Fletcher out on a date, taking them to a remote location. Laura refused his advances so Moseley ordered Laura, at gunpoint, to strip and perform oral sex on him. When she refused he attempted to force her. There was a struggle and the gun went off, injuring Laura’s hand. He was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted second-degree rape.
Sentencing
Carl Stephen Moseley was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree sexual assault, and first-degree rape. He was sentenced to death and two terms of life imprisonment.
Sentenced to Death on February 9th 1993
Died of natural causes at 9.58pm on Thursday, Feb 17th, 2022 in Central Prison Healthcare Complex
Reverse Discrimination
Moseley attempted to prove racial discrimination was the reason he received the death penalty and tried to get his death sentence changed to life without parole. You can read more on this here. Moseley has made a number of attempts to file petitions.
P.S. I first saw the story of Carl Stephen Moseley in Headquarters Detective from Mar. 1992, and written by Larry Mauro. As you can see I have a few of these magazines kicking about so if you’re a collector and missing any, let me know which ones.
P.P.S. Read about Serial Killer here
P.P.P.S. (sorry) There were a number of sites with information on Carl Stephen Moseley that I could not access due to my location (GDPR related I suspect) so I have presented in this post only what I could find.
Horror and Fantasy Author – Also writing as K.T. McQueen. Love Western Horror, cowboy boots, my cactus Collin, & my Demon Cat.
Moths – I hate moths, the way they flutter at your face!
