Warrant: Wilkins admitted strangling woman found in SUV

A Churchville man strangled his girlfriend with his bare hands and later admitted to the crime, according to authorities.

When Augusta County sheriff’s deputies found Timothy Aaron Wilkins, 39, “intoxicated and confused” in a Verona grocery store parking lot, he told them a firearm might be found in his Toyota 4 Runner, according to a search warrant obtained Tuesday by The News Virginian. In the back of the SUV, deputies discovered the body of Misty M. Phillips, 36, of Staunton.

Authorities charged Wilkins with first-degree murder.

Hours after deputies responded to a late-night call Friday about a man behaving suspiciously in a Food Lion parking lot, Wilkins told detectives he had “strangled [Phillips] in [the] yard area of his residence ... around dark a couple of days ago,” the warrant states.

Augusta County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Paul McCormick said new evidence leads him to believe Wilkins killed Phillips on Thursday night after an argument.

During searches, detectives looked for signs of struggle at Wilkins’ secluded single-story home on Lismore Lane, seizing a hand-written note and woman’s change purse. They found a black handbag and an ABC liquor store receipt in Wilkins’ Toyota.

“We’re trying to obtain as much information as we can to demonstrate actions that he took,” McCormick said.

Phillips and Wilkins had a six-year relationship, authorities said. It was a pairing marked by tumultuous nights, neighbors said.

Showing up on doorsteps in the middle of the night, sometimes carrying a bottle of alcohol, Phillips complained that she feared for her safety and fretted that Wilkins carried a gun, neighbors said. Loud music and fireworks frequently boomed into the night from the vicinity of his A-frame house, neighbors said.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10 for Wilkins.

He previously was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a controlled substance, but was not convicted, according to county court records. Phillips was convicted six times of public intoxication.

Wilkins is being held without bond at Middle River Regional Jail.