Man killed aunt, torched her car then pushed it over a mountainside with her body still inside: Cops

David Wayne Stoneburner (Harlan County Detention Center).

A Virginia man killed his aunt and then drove the body in her car across state lines where he set the vehicle on fire and pushed it over a mountainside, cops say.

Old Dominion state authorities have secured a warrant for the arrest of 29-year-old David Wayne Stoneburner for the murder of 44-year-old Saundra Lee Moore. He also stands accused of abuse of a corpse and first-degree arson in Kentucky. State police in the Bluegrass State wrote in a press release that troopers responded around 3 p.m. Sunday to a report of a vehicle “fully engulfed in flames” on State Road 160 in Lynch, a city located some 160 miles southeast of Lexington. Troopers arrived to find a Toyota off the road and down a mountainside. Cops found a woman, later identified as Moore, dead inside.

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Further investigation revealed that Moore had actually been killed some 15 miles away at her home in Appalachia, Virginia. The Wise County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that deputies responded to the home in question and “evidence emerged suggesting a violent incident that resulted in the death” of Moore.

“Based on information obtained throughout the investigation and a detailed interview with the suspect, the incident has been confirmed as a homicide,” deputies wrote.

Stoneburner gave detectives a statement “outlining the events that transpired” but cops did not elaborate on what he said, citing an active investigation. Deputies also did not say how Moore died, nor did they give a motive for the killing. Kentucky State Police said Moore was killed during a “physical altercation” with Stoneburner at her home earlier Sunday.