Left inset: Christopher Whitley (Durham Police Department). Right inset: Auriel Lowe (GoFundMe). Background: Police outside the Durham, N.C., apartment where Christopher Whitley allegedly strangled Auriel Lowe and then barricaded himself inside (WNCN/YouTube).
A North Carolina nurse who "wanted to find a good guy so she could settle down and have kids" wound up being murdered by a man she met on a dating app, with disturbing 911 calls revealing how he FaceTimed a friend to confess and show the woman's body, her loved ones and cops say.
"My friend just called me," a woman told police over the phone, according to 911 calls obtained by The News & Observer, after Christopher Whitley, 31, allegedly strangled Auriel Lowe inside her Durham apartment on Sept. 10.
"He murdered his girlfriend and then switched to FaceTime … and she's laying on the floor," the pal reportedly said. "I'm the only one that f—ing knows."
Lowe, 34, had just begun "her dream job" in nurse anesthesiology at Duke University Hospital — a "path she worked tirelessly to achieve" before she was "tragically murdered" by Whitley inside her own home, her loved ones say in a GoFundMe description.
"The circumstances of her death are devastating and unfathomable to the Lowe family," the GoFundMe says, citing statements from Lowe's stepmother Teresa Lowe.
"She was in ICU during her residency for two and [a] half years, and she had just literally gotten promoted into her career path in the operating room to move towards her nurse anesthesiology," Teresa Lowe explained.
The stepmom told the Observer that Lowe met Whitley on a dating app and began quietly dating him for a few months. "She was being private about it," said Teresa Lowe. "I think he may have been overpowering her, based on what I've seen … So she may have been afraid to speak up if he was there."
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According to the Observer, multiple women have posted on social media in the wake of Lowe's death to accuse Whitley of abusing them after meeting him on dating apps. Whitley was reportedly convicted in Texas of assault causing bodily injury to a family member in 2019; a suspended sentence of a year in jail and 15 months of probation was handed down to him.
"She just picked the wrong guy, unfortunately, and she didn't know how to vet him," Teresa Lowe told the Observer. "What I'm upset about is those dating apps; they need to do more background checks."
After killing Lowe, Whitley locked himself inside her apartment and began calling and texting people, according to police. One acquaintance who allegedly received messages from him called authorities and said Whitley told him he "committed a crime against his girlfriend," per the Observer.
"[The friend] advised he thought suspect was joking until he sent pictures of victim," the 911 call log reads, according to the local newspaper.
A total of five hours elapsed between the time Lowe was killed and when Whitley began contacting his friends, police say. Lowe's autopsy revealed that she was strangled around 5:30 a.m. and was later declared dead by paramedics around 2:30 p.m. after police were called. Whitley's family reportedly convinced him to turn himself in after he barricaded himself inside Lowe's residence.
Whitley was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He remains in the Durham County Detention Facility without bail.
