Brooklyn man accused of murdering wife

wabc

By abc7NY

Sunday, June 7, 2009

NEW YORK Ryan Holness, 28, was charged with murder in the death of Serika Dunkley Holness, 26, whose body was found on the side of a rural Eastern Shore road earlier Friday. Holness had told police that he and his wife were carjacked while returning to Maryland from New York where they had been visiting family.

State police said information provided by Holness throughout the day did not match that provided by witnesses and evidence found at the scene.

Holness, of Lexington Park, was charged with first- and second-degree murder and was being held pending a bond hearing, said state police, who were still searching for the couple's car.

Police said the husband told officers he was forced to drive to the Crumpton area in Kent County, where the carjacker forced him out of the car, and bound his hands and feet. Holness said his wife tried to escape but the carjacker ran her down and killed her before driving away, state police said.

The husband, who was wounded when police arrived, told officers he freed himself after several hours, unsuccessfully tried to flag down motorists and eventually called 911 about 6 a.m. from a nearby home.

Police found the wife's body a few minutes' walk away from that house.