Someone stabbed and killed 44-year-old Alexander Harkley inside his home near Beaufort on Saturday morning. His killer was still on the loose Monday evening.
“He would take over a room real quick, especially with that million dollar smile he had,” said Harkley’s cousin, Norma Taylor.
According to his family, Harkley had an infectious personality.
But some family members wonder if there wasn't something else about him that could have led someone to kill him. Harkley was a cross-dresser.
“It wasn't nothing to see him in his drag, you know,”
But some people may not have accepted that -- and some folks who live in their tight-knit neighborhood question whether that may have led someone to kill a man who seemingly had no enemies.
The Carteret County Sheriff's Department is staying quiet about the case for now -- but deputies do say they're pursuing several people of interest -- and at this point, they say there is no evidence that leads them to believe Harkley's murder was a hate crime.
Regardless of what may have led someone to kill Harkley, his family members are calling his death a tragedy. And sadly, tragedy is no stranger to this family. Several years ago, Harkley’s twin brother was murdered in the very same house.
“It is what it is. You know, we're going to pull together, as a community, as a family, and move on,”
All the while, they’re hoping this is the last time they'll have to.
Deputies say they found Harkley dead in his home after a neighbor reported hearing a disturbance in his house.
It's the first murder case the Carteret County Sheriff’s Department has worked since 2005.
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