A judge maintained no bond for an Orange County man charged with murdering his long-time house cleaner.
Matthew Vukmer appeared in court Friday afternoon wearing a jumpsuit and chains.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Vukmer is charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed Paula Floyd on March 6 at his home in the Wyngate community, which is southeast of Hillsborough. Floyd was 54.
In court, a state prosecutor said Floyd had cleaned Vukmer's home every other Friday for several years.
"The past month has been incredibly hard, but I am trying to move through it with the same light and joy that I know my mom would have wanted," said Dillon Floyd, Paula's son. "What I keep coming back to most is why. Why would someone my mom considered a friend take her life?"
WRAL News obtained the 911 call made back in March.
On the phone, Vukmer's wife told the operator that her husband thought Floyd was someone else. A man could be heard in the background of the call saying, "We got Vladimir Putin."
Wendy Tilley Stocking, Paula's sister, told the court that it's been hard to think of her being gone and "taken this way."
"I hope she knows that we love her and that she’ll be remembered forever as a light in this world that was turned off really quickly," Stocking said.
Vukmer was indicted, and his case will continue through the superior court. His next appearance is scheduled for April 21.
Out-of-state arrest
Just after 5 p.m. on March 6, authorities in Grayson County, Virginia, took Vukmer into custody. At the time, Vukmer declined to answer questions from investigators and requested an attorney.
Virginia authorities held Vukmer under a fugitive from justice charge since March 6 in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin, Va.
He waived extradition proceedings on Monday during a court hearing in Grayson County, Va., voluntarily returning to Orange County.
North Carolina follows the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, designed to ensure the return of defendants who flee a state attempting to avoid criminal prosecution there.
Defendants can waive extradition or participate in formal extradition proceedings, which require a Governor’s warrant and a hearing. As a broad generalization, the process takes approximately 30 days, as it did in this case.
