Shivangi Sinha
In November 2012, Samantha McNorton’s family filed a missing persons report for her, as they had not seen her for several days. It was common for them not to see her for a few days, but when it had been a while, they knew something was amiss. The police launched a wide search for her, but it was only when an arrest on an unrelated case was made that the police figured out the answers about Samantha’s case as well. In ID’s ‘Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger’ episode ‘A Devil Always Lies,’ the details of the case and the right timeline have been shared in detail.
Samantha McNorton’s Remains Were Recovered From a Wooded Area in Texas
Samantha Jo McNorton was born on September 17, 1984, to Randi and Jodi McNorton. She grew up with three brothers, Randy, Terry, and Wesley, in Fort Worth, Texas, and was always a bright and cheerful girl. She always took care of everyone in her family and always wanted to make everyone around her happy. In 2003, she graduated from Alvord High School, and then she found love. She got married to Paul Agnew and was blessed with three kids. Her two daughters, Courtney and Katlyn, were her whole world. Her son, Alan, was the apple of her eyes. For Samantha, her family meant everything, and she wanted to give her children the whole world.
When she and her husband separated, she took her kids and was trying her best to support them. The last time her family saw her was on November 2, 2012, at a Runaway Bay convenience store, after which she went to stay with her uncle for a while. When they did not hear from her again, they grew suspicious and filed a missing persons report for her on November 13, 2012. They said that there had been times when she had not been in touch with them for a few days, but this was beyond normal. On November 18, 2012, Samantha’s remains were found in a shallow grave at a remote location off Greenwood Road in Wise County, Texas. The autopsy reports showed that she had been stabbed and strangled, and had been the victim of a violent homicide.
Police State that the Accused Killer Alleged the Devil Made Him Kill Samantha
When Samantha McNorton’s parents reported her missing, they also named David Malone as the person they suspected. At the convenience store where she was last seen, she had been there with Malone, whom she had been dating for about four months. The family alleged that the relationship had been turbulent, further claiming that to avoid him, she had gone to stay with her uncle. Malone had a long criminal record spanning decades on unrelated misdemeanor charges. Previously, Samantha had also allegedly accused him of assault, but no charges were filed, and he denied these allegations.
On November 15, 2012, Malone was arrested on an unrelated sexual assault charge and brought to the police station. The police allege that he confessed to killing Samantha, claiming that he had been jealous. As per reports, he allegedly suspected her of cheating on him and said that the Devil had told him to kill her, acting in a fit of rage. It was reported by the authorities that he allegedly admitted to burying her in a spot he had known well since childhood. Police asserted Malone led them to the location where Samantha’s remains were recovered. He was officially charged with first-degree murder on November 18, 2012, and held on a $2 million bond.
David Malone Passed Away While Awaiting Trial
David Malone was being held at the Wise County Jail in Decatur, Texas. On November 21, 2012, the officers in charge saw him making a phone call. Seventeen minutes later, they found him in his cell, where he had hanged himself using a bedsheet in an isolation cell. He was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead. He was never tried in court for Samantha’s killing.
