Wilbert Lester Fair will spend decades in prison for bludgeoning a couple to death in 2012. The 44-year-old Lincoln County man accepted a plea offer Friday, pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 41 to 52 years in prison. Fair was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Michael and Bonnie Vincent.
The Vincents were killed on July 24, 2012. They were not found until a few days later when a neighbor stopped by to see them. Michael Vincent, 58, and Bonnie Vincent, 54, had been bludgeoned to death.
A friend of the couple, Fair was charged a week later. He lived less than 2 miles from where the couple lived on Broome Street in Lincolnton. Fair’s attorney said in court that the violence erupted when Fair fought with the couple over drugs. Michael Vincent’s mother, Marie Fox, said that was a lie.
Fox said that the autopsy reports show no illegal drugs in Michael or Bonnie Vincent’s systems. Fox was in court Friday when Fair pleaded guilty. Though she had already approved the plea offer with the prosecutor, Fox said she still feels Fair should’ve pleaded to what he actually did.
“I believe that two people’s violent murder deserved something more than second-degree,” she said. But in the end, Fox said she wanted to make sure Fair never got out of prison. And the sentence Fair received will do that, she said. The Vincents fought for their lives, according to the autopsy report.
Both had defensive wounds on their arms and hands, but each ultimately died from repeated blows to the head with a hammer. The Vincents lived in a home without air conditioning, and they were killed when temperatures hovered around 100 degrees. The high heat and days going undiscovered led to quick decomposition of their bodies. Detectives and investigators with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation wore body suits and air tanks when working the crime scene.
Fair has a lengthy rap sheet, according to the N.C. Department of Correction website. His criminal history dates back to 1989, with arrests for larceny, breaking and entering, drug possession and assault on a female. Fair was deemed a habitual felon in 2000 and was most recently released from prison on a larceny charge in November of 2010. Fair has been incarcerated since his arrest.
The Vincents attended Massapoag Baptist Church and had lived in the neighborhood about 20 years, according to neighbors. They had been married about 25 years. Fox said she’s glad to have the case closed on the murders. But she still can’t make sense of what happened. “I’m just glad it’s over. We’re dealing with it the best we can,” she said. “We have yet to know why. We don’t know why he felt it necessary to kill those two people.”
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.