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Autopsy: Blow to head killed pastor's wife

Authorities said Rose Wynn was attacked and beaten in her Hoke County home on June 4, and she died the following day. Her husband, a former Wake County pastor, has been named a person of interest in the case.

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Rose Wynn
RAEFORD, N.C. — The wife of a former Wake County pastor died from a blow to the head, according to an autopsy report.

Rose Wynn, 53, was attacked and beaten in her Hoke County home on June 4, authorities said. Her 10-year-old son, Christopher, found her unconscious on the kitchen floor the next morning, and she died later that day at a nearby hospital.

Authorities have called her husband, Rev. Sam Wynn, a former pastor of Holland's United Methodist Church in Wake County, a person of interest in her death. Sam Wynn recently became superintendent of the United Methodist Church's Fayetteville district.

An autopsy determined that Rose Wynn died of blunt force trauma to the head. She had two fractures across the top and back of her skull, according to the autopsy report.

"Although these findings are not typical of an accidental fall, that possibility cannot be excluded," the autopsy report concluded.

Rose Wynn had a history of prescription drug abuse and had been treated once for an accidental fall, according to the autopsy report. A toxicology report found elevated levels of painkillers in her blood, which could have played a role in any fall, the report concluded.

The couple's marriage was strained, and they often fought over who would acquire ownership of the home in Raeford after a separation, authorities said in an affidavit to search the Wynn home,  at 595 E. Lake Ridge Road.

Christopher Wynn heard his parents arguing on the phone on June 3, and James Jackson, Rose Wynn's oldest son, told investigators that his mother called him crying that night to report that Sam Wynn had threatened her, according to the affidavit.

Investigators found a towel and a shoe with stains that appeared to be blood in a June 26 search of the home. They also found a $100,000 life insurance policy on Rose Wynn – her husband was listed as the beneficiary – and a deed to the Raeford house during a search of a house owned by Holland's United Methodist Church where Sam Wynn stayed.

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