Background: The home in the Wyngate community outside Hillsborough, North Carolina, where the stabbing occurred (WNCN/YouTube). Inset top: Matthew Vukmer (New River Valley Regional Jail). Inset bottom: Paula Floyd (Hudson Funeral Home).
A man in North Carolina is accused of stabbing his housekeeper to death while his wife was home before driving away across state lines.
Matthew Vukmer, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 54-year-old Paula Floyd, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. He waived his extradition this week during a court hearing in Grayson County, Virginia, meaning he will soon be returned to North Carolina to face the charge.
On the morning of March 6, Vukmer was at his home in the Wyngate community outside Hillsborough, North Carolina, which is located some 35 miles northwest of the state capital of Raleigh. Also inside the home were Vukmer's wife and Floyd.
Vukmer's wife was apparently working at her desk when she heard Floyd fall and noticed the woman had been stabbed. The wife's 911 call reviewed by regional Fox affiliate WGHP reveals the subsequent moments in the home.
"My husband was upstairs and he said he heard someone and came down," Vukmer's wife told the 911 dispatcher. "He attacked our cleaning lady because he thought she was someone else!"
The wife reportedly referenced how Floyd was a friend of theirs during the call. "I don't know what he thought she was," she added, with Vukmer at one point apparently saying in the background, "We got Vladimir Putin."
As the emergency call continued, Vukmer's wife stated that she saw her husband get into his truck and drive away, believing he was searching for help.
As it turned out, Vukmer was apparently heading north for the state border.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina that day stated that it had obtained the murder charge against Vukmer and was searching for him after he left his home in a dark Ford Super Duty truck. Investigators reportedly spoke with his wife and, acting with her help, believed he may have traveled to western Virginia, per area CBS affiliate WNCN.
Hours later, at about 5:15 p.m., authorities took Vukmer into custody in Grayson County, Virginia, about 145 miles away. The North Carolina law enforcement agency said he "declined to speak to investigators and requested an attorney."
"We know the family and friends of Paula Floyd experienced a life-shattering event today, and we continue to extend our condolences," the sheriff's office added at the time. "It is our hope that they take some small measure of comfort knowing that her assailant is in custody."
Floyd is remembered in her obituary as a "lifelong member of the community she loved and a bright presence in the lives of everyone who knew her."
She "worked as a self-employed housekeeper, but those who knew her best would say her true work in life was caring for people," the obituary continues. "She had a gift for making others feel welcome, valued, and loved. To Paula, family was never limited to blood—it included anyone lucky enough to cross her path."
Floyd had a husband and two sons.
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