Couple found dead in Lincolnton home identified

LINCOLNTON, N.C. — Two people were found dead Thursday inside a Lincolnton home.

The couple was identified by police as Michal Paul Vincent and Bonnie Carpenter Vincent.

The man who discovered the couple in a house on Broome Street said they are his good friends and he believes they were murdered.

Justin Hester said he came to visit his friends on Tuesday, but no one answered the door. He now believes the door was likely unlocked.

“I kind of feel responsible because if I would have opened the door, maybe I could have helped,” Hester said.

He said no one had seen or heard from the couple since Tuesday. So on Thursday morning, he went back.

“I could smell a real strong, foul smell I have never smelled before,” Hester said.

He noticed the door was unlocked. When he opened it, he said he saw the two bodies, one on the coffee table, another on the floor and lots of blood.

“I was screaming, ‘Oh my God, are you OK?’” Hester said.

“This is uncalled for,” friend Sonja Knetter said. “I don't understand.”

Neighbors said the victims were the kind of people you admire. They lived there for two decades and never had a problem.

“They are just the sweetest people that you would ever know,” Knetter said.

“They would go out of their way to help you,” neighbor Brad Sigmon said. “If you didn't have a dollar, they would give you their last dollar.”

On Thursday, because of the heat and the odor in the home, SBI agents wore oxygen masks while they looked for clues on how the couple died.

Anyone with any information about this case is urged to call Lincolnton police  at 704-736-8900.

WSOC