The murder of Dr. James David Boyd is unfolding without surprise. Now a sex-for-drugs angle has emerged. Occam’s razor suggested as much at the outset, given the facts. But now let’s go further.
Was Candice Jo Drye a law enforcement informant? Were either Jonathan Barnett or Christopher Boyd — charged along with Drye in Boyd’s death — law enforcement informants?
Drye had numerous brushes with the law in recent months, the necessary condition for becoming an informant. The Rowan County Sheriff’s department asked the SBI to begin an investigation into Boyd possibly handing out painkillers on June 12th. The request was the result of information developed from an informant. What was that informant’s relationship — if any — to the trio charged in Boyd’s death?
Then we have these curious details, as explained by an Uptown paper of record account:
A co-worker of James Boyd’s found his body at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Boyd, 47, had been strangled. He was in bed, with his feet and hands tied with electrical cord and his hands tied to the bed. …
Drye’s stepmother has told the Observer that Drye met Boyd at his office Wednesday night, then went to his home for drinks. At 4:19 the next morning, police pulled over a white Chevrolet pickup truck containing Drye, Barnett and Christopher Boyd. Police won’t say what they believe happened between Wednesday night and the traffic stop and have not established what time Boyd died…
Were police tailing Drye and/or Boyd on the last day he was alive? Did police otherwise know or suspect that Drye would meet with Boyd on Wednesday?
As for the timing of the early Thursday morning catch-and-release, either police stopped the trio just after Boyd was murdered or just before. Either outcome does not look good for investigators.
I fear the sex-and-drug stuff will swamp much larger questions about how this matter has been handled by the authorities.
