USPS letter carrier murdered while on route in North Carolina, authorities say
William Durham is seen in a photo released by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation)
(WILKES COUNTY, N.C.) — A United States Postal Service letter carrier was murdered while delivering mail on her rural North Carolina route, authorities said.
Brandi Reynolds, a 35-year-old mother of two, was shot and found dead by responding authorities in Wilkes County, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The incident occurred Friday afternoon, while she was on her route, according to the United States Postal Inspection Service.
William Craig Durham, 56, was subsequently arrested in connection with the deadly shooting and has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, court records show.
The charges allege that Durham restrained and kidnapped Reynolds “for the purpose of terrorizing” her and “did of malice aforethought kill and murder” her, according to a court filing. Authorities have not released any further information, including an alleged motive and any connection between the victim and suspect.
Durham is being held without bond following his initial court appearance on Monday, online records show.
The judge noted that Durham has a “significant criminal record,” a court filing shows. His prior convictions include second-degree kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to court filings.
Durham’s attorney had no comment when contacted by ABC News.
The homicide investigation is being conducted jointly by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said no additional information on the case is being released at this time amid the ongoing investigation.
“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to her family and co-workers,” the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said in a statement.
Reynolds was remembered as a friendly and dependable presence in the community.
“Outgoing, friendly, usually never missed a beat. We could count on her,” Julie Smith, who received mail from Reynolds along her route, told ABC Greensboro affiliate WXLV. “I think if you ask anybody in the community, they would probably tell you the same thing.”
“My heart broke for her family and for her children,” she said.
Reynolds is survived by two daughters, who were “her whole world,” her obituary noted.
Tragedy previously struck the family last year, when her husband, Brent Andrew Reynolds, died in a car crash in December 2025.
His obituary remembered him as a “loving and devoted husband, father, son, and brother,” and called Brandi his “soulmate” and their two girls the “light of his life.”
Aris Karamousianis, left, and James Brouillard, seen here in surveillance footage, were reported escaped from their New Hampshire transitional facility on Sept. 21, 2026. (New Hampshire Department of Corrections)
(NEW YORK) — Investigators in New Hampshire said they were looking for two minimum security inmates, who they allege escaped from their transitional housing facility Monday while leaving to find work.
Aris Karamousianis, and James Brouillard, two minimum-security inmates of the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit in Manchester, signed out of the facility around 11:05 a.m. to seek employment, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections said.
“Neither returned to the facility, and their current whereabouts are unknown. Their last known location was in the area of Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester,” the department said in a statement.
Karamousianis, 43, was convicted in December 2025 on two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to arrest records. His minimum release date was slated for Dec. 3, 2026, records show.
Karamousianis was described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 220 pounds, and has blue eyes and brown hair, according to the corrections department.
He was last seen wearing a gray zip-up fleece jacket, a white T-shirt, jeans, and was wearing a gold cross necklace, the corrections department said.
Brouillard, 63, has had several convictions going back to 1990, including a recent one for armed robbery, according to arrest records. He is described as approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 200 pounds, and has light brown graying hair and blue eyes, the corrections department said.
He was last seen wearing a gray crewneck sweatshirt, jeans and white sneakers. Brouillard has several tattoos, including a skull with a heart and rose on his right forearm, a grim reaper on his right upper arm and a dragon on his left arm, according to the corrections department.
Anyone with information on the inmates is urged to call the NHDOC Investigations Bureau at (603) 848-2569.
A horse, named Detail, who was unable to compete due to a stabbing injury. (Obtained by ABC News)
(LAS VEGAS) — The teenage girl accused of stabbing three horses is due in court for a hearing on Thursday as prosecutors hope to move her case to adult court.
The girl — who was in Las Vegas for the National Barrel Horse Association’s Professional’s Choice Vegas Super Show — is accused of attacking three horses in a barn early Saturday, according to Las Vegas police and the NBHA.
She allegedly had access to the barn and authorities believe she may have used a knife to wound the horses, authorities said.
The horses’ injuries were non-life-threatening but the wounds did keep the animals from competing in the event, which took place over the weekend, according to police.
The teenager was arrested for 12 counts of willful/malicious kill/maim/torture animal — horse and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property over $5,000, authorities said.
The Clark County District Attorney’s office said Tuesday that it wants the teen charged in adult court.
“These allegations involve deliberate acts of extreme cruelty against defenseless animals and have had a significant impact on the victims, the owners, and the broader equestrian community,” DA Steve Wolfson said in a statement.
A separate hearing will be scheduled for a judge to determine if the case should be moved to adult court, the DA’s office said.
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in a photo released by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice. (New York State Sex Offender Registry)
(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday will conduct a closed-door interview with a woman so ubiquitous in Jeffrey Epstein’s life that a search for her name in the Justice Department’s Epstein files returns more than 160,000 results.
Lesley Groff worked as an executive secretary to Epstein in New York for more than 18 years, and was once described by her boss as an “extension of my brain.”
Among her job requirements were scheduling Epstein’s frequent meetings with celebrities, scientists and politicians, booking Epstein’s daily massage appointments when he was in New York, and arranging travel for women linked to Epstein. She was one of four women listed as potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s controversial non-prosecution agreement in 2007.
According to federal prosecutors, “numerous victims [of Epstein] had indicated that she was responsible for scheduling massages during which they were sexually abused.”
Groff will appear as part of the committee’s ongoing inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators, which to date has included interviews with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Epstein’s longtime personal assistant Sarah Kellen, and a prison guard who was on duty the night Epstein died in his jail cell.
Last September at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol, Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda specifically called out Groff, alleging that Groff had called her so many times to go to Epstein’s place for a massage that she dropped out of high school before the ninth grade.
Lacerda — who was one of the key witnesses that led to Epstein’s 2019 indictment for child sex trafficking — told ABC News in an interview this week that Groff was the conduit to Epstein.
“Anything that had to do with Jeffrey Epstein, ” Lacerda told ABC News in an interview, “had to go through Lesley Groff.”
Through her attorneys, Groff has denied any knowledge of, or participation in, Epstein’s crimes.
Michael Bachner, a lawyer for Groff, declined comment in advance of her appearance on Capitol Hill. He previously told ABC News that Groff “never knowingly booked travel for anyone under the age of 18, and had no knowledge of the alleged illegal activity whatsoever.”
“Ms. Groff, a parent herself, is incredibly shocked and deeply upset about the alleged wrongdoings of Mr. Epstein,” Bachner said.
After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, federal prosecutors included Groff in a list of potential co-conspirators and sent her a subpoena. Bachner informed the government, just four days after Epstein’s arrest, that his client “would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination” if called to appear before a grand jury.
Groff, now 59, eventually interviewed with the investigators two years later, telling prosecutors that “making massage appointments was just another appointment she had to make” for Epstein, and said that scheduling massages was “around 1%” of her job.
Groff, who was hired by Epstein in 2001, told the FBI she was immediately struck by Epstein’s lifestyle and the company he kept, describing it as “pretty incredible to see all the people Epstein dealt with in politics, television, et cetera.”
“Groff felt, ‘Wow,'” according to an FBI account of her interview.
Groff was initially paid a salary of $60,000 a year, but saw it doubled to $120,000 by Epstein four years later, DOJ records show.
The New York Times reported in 2005 that Epstein bought Groff a new Mercedes and paid for a nanny to ensure she would keep working for him.
“There is no way that I could lose Lesley to motherhood,” Epstein said of Groff, according to the newspaper’s account.
Banking records included in the DOJ’s Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
Bachner told the government that Groff stayed with Epstein after his first arrest in Florida in 2006 because she believed him when he said that “someone was trying to blackmail him.”
When he was again arrested in 2019, she resigned, her lawyer told prosecutors.
“She felt betrayed and disgusted once the indictment came out,” Bachner wrote.
According to documents released by the Justice Department in response to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, one victim — who was a minor at the time of her alleged abuse — told the FBI that she felt Groff “knew that the massage appointments were sexual” and “felt it was pretty obvious Lesley knew what was going on,” according to the DOJ records.
Federal prosecutors in 2021 informed Groff that she would not be charged, according to a statement from her attorneys.
“After a more than two-year investigation by the Department of Justice into Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct, which included lengthy interviews of witnesses and a thorough review of relevant communications, we have been informed that no criminal charges will be brought against Lesley Groff,” the statement said.
Lacerda said she hopes the congressional investigators press Groff for answers.
“I just think that she should be honest about it so that we can have some accountability here,” she said.
Oversight Committee member Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) said he’s heading into the interview with Groff already skeptical of her denials.
“She will argue that she didn’t know anything, but I find that to be hard to believe,” he said. “I think at best she was blissfully trying to be ignorant, but probably wasn’t.”
