Kathy Bonney

On November 21, 1987, 19-year-old Kathy Carol Bonney was killed by her father Thomas Lee Bonney in Camden County, North Carolina. The case gained media attention not only due to the brutal manner in which the killing had been carried out, but also because Tom Bonney pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on the grounds that he had dissociative identity disorder and that an evil personality state was in control at the time of the killing. The book Deadly Whispers by Ted Schwarz and a television movie of the same name are based on the case.

Background Thomas Lee "Tom" Bonney lived in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he ran an auto salvage yard. According to his defense attorneys, Tom Bonney's childhood had been a troubled one, as he suffered physical abuse at the hands of his father. He upheld his narrative of the previous evening, claiming that he had taken Kathy to the 7-Eleven store to meet a man Kathy knew, named John, who wanted to sell his Chevrolet Blazer. Kathy had gone for a test drive with him around 9:00 p.m. and never returned. Bonney stated he did not grow suspicious until the next morning, as his daughter had stayed out all night once before. Police told him that, since Kathy was an adult, a missing-person report could only be filed after 24 hours. Bonney phoned the police again shortly before 7 p.m., stating Kathy was still missing. An officer went to the Bonneys’ home, and Bonney repeated his version of the events.