Daugherty, 41, will have the 10th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office representing him on the first-degree murder charge, according to court officials.
Family and friends found Carney’s body wrapped and tied in blankets one week ago today. Preliminary examination and a following autopsy initially concluded Carney had been strangled to death.
Bradley County Sheriff’s Office deputies were responding to a missing persons call at the couple’s 6th Street mobile home when dispatchers were alerted that family and friends had located Carney’s body inside a closet in the home.
She had not been seen for several days prior to the discovery, according to reports.
Daugherty was reportedly speaking with a friend via telephone when he heard the family’s screams and he stated, “I guess they found her,” according to an affidavit filed by BCSO Crime Scene Investigator John Stone.
“When Alex Longwell asked what he was talking about, Mr. Daugherty responded by stating that he killed Elizabeth,” according to the affidavit signed by Stone.
A first-degree murder warrant was issued after the initial investigation was completed and was based on investigators’ findings.
Daugherty reportedly fled Bradley County for North Carolina shortly after the murder and was arrested Thursday by Cherokee Police Department officers in that state after they responded to a disturbance call.
Bob Gault, media relations coordinator for BCSO, said he spoke with Lt. Ray Sweeney, who was on the scene when Daugherty was taken into custody.
According to Sweeney, Cherokee police arrived on the scene at a motel where Daugherty had apparently approached a motel guest who was reading a book outside her room.
Sweeney told Gault the woman, reportedly from Ellenboro, N.C., was approached by a man she thought was a motel employee asking to check her towels in her room.
As the woman entered the room, Daugherty reportedly began attacking the woman with a stun gun. The woman’s daughter ran out of the room to the motel office to get help.
Daugherty had fled on foot but officers spotted him behind some bushes and then took him into custody.
After a brief investigation, Cherokee police officials learned of the Tennessee warrant issued for Daugherty.
Daugherty waived extradition and was returned to Tennessee late Friday, then made his initial appearance in General Sessions Court Monday.
He will face a preliminary hearing Thursday.
