Graybeal Faces Murder Charges In Shooting Death Of His Estranged Wife
Contributed Photo
Randy Keith Graybeal
Published: January 1, 2009
Updated: January 7, 2009
A Bluff City, Tenn., man who suffered a disfiguring gunshot wound to his head now faces trial on murder charges in the shooting death of his estranged wife.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday arrested Randy Keith Graybeal, 54, of Timber Ridge Road in Bluff City, and charged him with one count of first-degree murder.
Graybeal is accused of shooting his wife, Angela Dawn Graybeal, 38, on Oct. 28 before turning the gun on himself in what investigators have called a “homicide and an attempted suicide that is domestic related.”
Graybeal is being held without bond in the Sullivan County Jail pending a court hearing, the Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement issued Wednesday.
“I hope he goes to jail, I really do, because that’s where he deserves to be,” said Teresa Cupps, a woman who worked with Angela Graybeal prior to the shooting and described herself as being “one of her best friends.”
Randy Graybeal married Angela on June 7, 2007, and the two lived in a house he owned on Timber Ridge Road, a three-mile-long rural road that loops around a large hill southeast of downtown Bluff City.
On May 30, the Graybeals bought 15 acres of land on the other side of the hill. The couple planned to build a new home on the property, their neighbors said, and Randy Graybeal was seen tending to the land whenever he had time off from his job as a bricklayer.
Although it seemed an idyllic relationship, the Sheriff’s Office answered a series of 9-1-1 calls referencing domestic disputes at the residence near the end of July. These calls hint at what Angela Graybeal’s friends said was a pattern of abuse that dominated her marriage.
Randy and Angela Graybeal both called 9-1-1 from their individual cell phones at 8:50 p.m. and 8:51 p.m. July 25 to report a domestic dispute, according to dispatch logs released in November by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.
No charges were filed against either person following those calls, said Capt. Keith Elton, which leads people to believe it was not a serious incident.
But on July 29, Randy Graybeal filed for a divorce; and on July 30, Angela Dawn Graybeal called 9-1-1 to ask an officer to wait with her as she picked up her car from the home on Timber Ridge Road.
Angela Graybeal then moved to live with her mother near Elizabethton, said Paul Ditrapani, a man she dated prior to her death. On Wednesday, Ditrapani described Randy Keith Graybeal as being a “violent, crazy individual” who abused his wife.
“He was so possessive,” Ditrapani said. “When she wasn’t with him she was the sweetest girl in the world.”
Ditrapani said Angela Graybeal was afraid of her husband. He also said Randy Graybeal threatened to kill him after he learned of Ditrapani’s relationship with Angela Graybeal.
Cupps, who worked with Angela Graybeal for about a year, told a similar story about the relationship. People could hear Randy Graybeal yelling at his wife while the two spoke on the phone, Cupps said, and she often saw Angela Graybeal coming in to work with bruises and marks on her arms.
“She was afraid of him,” Cupps said. “You could tell there was something going on that shouldn’t have happened.”
Cupps was not surprised when she heard Graybeal had been charged with first-degree murder. Neither was Ditrapani, who said he was with Angela Graybeal the night before she died.
After she stayed at his house for a few weeks, Ditrapani said, Angela Graybeal decided to move into a house in the Hamilton community, between Elizabethton, Tenn., and Roane Mountain.
Angela Graybeal had left several personal items and family heirlooms at the house on Timber Ridge Road, Ditrapani said, and she was trying to get them back for fear her ex-husband would sell them.
“I knew it was going to be bad,” Ditrapani said, adding that he tried to talk her out of going back to the house.
Ditrapani said he called Angela Graybeal repeatedly on her cell phone but she never answered. When she didn’t come home that night, he said, he knew something terrible had happened.
Shortly after 9:30 a.m. Oct. 29, Sullivan County sheriff’s deputy Ricky Rumley found Angela Dawn Graybeal lying on her back in the Timber Ridge home. Randy Graybeal was lying on the floor near his wife, still alive, but with a severe head wound.
Behind Randy Graybeal was a shotgun.
Randy Graybeal was transported to the Johnson City Medical Center. His wife was pronounced dead at the scene.
“When I found out what happened,” Ditrapani said. “I was just like, sweet God, I knew that was going to happen.”
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Also I was not with Angela the night before her death but a week before her death and no one knows what went on between Angela and I so dont comment on what you have no idea about
I have read your comments and I have to say that alot of you are nuts. The reporter miss quoted me. I never said angela lived with her mother in hampton but before she moved to hampton. I found a nice home for Angela and was helping her remodel that home. We helped each other alot and were great friends, Angela did everything she could to make her marriage work, she did love Randy but, Randy loved george dickle too much to see that and he abused her physically and mentally from what Angela told me. Randy filed for divorce he wanted nothing to do with her and made fun of her on a continual basis. I think he forced her into the reconsilliation, she was tired of being beaten. Anyone who knows them knows that Randy wouldn’t even let her look at men and God forbid talk to one. I guess a man of many insecurities. Everyone who knows him knows of how he ridicules everyone and acts as if he was the good lord himself. After what he did to Angela he deserves his self abuse. I just hope his prison husband treats him the way he treated Angela. I am sure Randy has a great and wonderful family and I know they are hurting but every family has a black sheep that is lost beyond repair. They have a monsterous one in their midst and I know they must be so ashamed of him. The guy was rotten to put it nice. for anyone to think that he was protecting himself from angela is just stupid, she is one of the sweetest and most easy going and harmless woman I ever met. Her smile just warms the whole room, when she move here to hampton all of my friends took to her and she made friends with everyone that touched her life. She was very well liked here and we all were devasted at Randys actions. He desrves to live the rest of his days out in prison known as a wife beater. I am sure he will be welcomed there with open arms and that his prison husband will give him all the love he needs
Tray,
You said that her relationship was “obviously violent and in some way abusive” with Ditrapani and that she kept going back to him. Oh my gosh, that poor thing!!! What she must have went through. Have you been to the police yet with what you know about her Ditrapani?
Tray,
Please refrain from starting drama on the internet. Didn’t you know the internet is serious business? Leave it alone.
Thank you!
maybebaby
tray,
You know one side of this story, hers. He has a side too, granted he is not perfect either and whatever happened inside that house will probably never be known. I knew Angela and liked her, but what she was doing was wrong. A marriage is supposed to be between a man and his wife not to include a lover. She went to the lawyer with Randy and signed the reconcillation papers on Friday or Monday before all of this happened. If he was so bad and so mean to her, why was she willing to try to work things out? I don’t understand it all either, but we don’t know the whole story. He will suffer the rest of his life for what has happened, do think it will be easy for him to live with the way he looks and all these terrible comments? And for Di Trapani to admit that he laughs at this picture—-what kind of animal did she take up with??? My concern is his family, his daughter and granddaughter that have to see and read all of this bull, they are suffering more than you can imagine. I hate this for both families, I know her family is hurting too, but so is his. It is a tradegy to say the least, but we need to leave it alone for the families sake.
So you’re saying in this comment adultery is wrong, but in your last comment you really didn’t address adultery. They were still legally married and she had a boyfriend. Hmm, I smell adultery. I think that is a relevant piece of information in this case.
Oh, and just to make you feel better, “MURGER” IS WRONG. Like I said in my last comment (which I think you might have read half of, if that) I’m not defending Randy’s actions, but dear, it takes two to tango. Every action has a consequence, a cause and effect, so to speak. How do you know that Angela didn’t attack Randy, and he had to defend himself? Oh, I forgot, I guess you do know that, since you know everything about this situation.
Oh, and please attack me with the “blogs” I have posted. Please do. You seem too eager to justify actions of wrong. Maybe YOU believe OJ Simpson got the correct sentence in his “murger” case. I’m not giving you anymore attention honey. Like I said, go make some new friends and get your attention there, not on the interwebz. You know what they say about arguing on the internet don’t you? It’s like the speshul Olympics, no matter who wins, you still look like a retard.
Reply to me all you want. I’m done with your pathetic self.
Adultery is wrong….....2 wrongs don’t make a right….....But Angela lost her life!!!! Are u forgetting this??? Every action I believe has a consequence!! I don’t see that anyone has won in this situation….That is the sad part. You probaby believe OJ Simpson got a correct verdict in his murger case? And I see you have posted more blogs than I?
I love how people try to justify morally wrong things with certain situations. It really is quite funny, because it doesn’t matter what the sitatuion is, you should know better. Adultery is morally and biblically wrong, and so is murder. I’m not trying to justify Randy’s actions.
I guess we can call tray1961 our expert on everything here, since she knows everything about this situation.
Would you like a definition of adultery? They were still LEGALLY MARRIED, and she had another man. I don’t know why it is so hard for you to understand this? That is adultery the last time I checked, and deb please do tell us where and how they met. I’m very interested in that little story.
Are you trying to stir the pot, tray1961? You just can’t leave drama alone. You must be sometime who needs a lot of attention, and the only way you can get it is online. This is so very sad. Why don’t you go out and try to make new friends, instead of causing TEH DRAMAZ online.
If she played with Randy’s emotions….that isn’t anything he didn’t do to her for years, according to her co-workers. But Perhaps it was ok for him to abuse her and take her life….....Don’t quote the 10 commandments to me….... Have you forgotten the one that says “Thou shalt not kill” It’s obvious her life has been taken…....Who knows that she committed adultery….and who can define that, since they were in the process of getting a divorce. And I believe I read he filed. I an unclear as to why she wasn’t with him till the night before her death. Also I am unclear as to how the judge granted them the reconcilation if they were not present and why wasn’t she with him before that night? Perhaps we will never know. Who cares where she met Ditrapani at? Thier relationship was obviously violent and in some way abusive. Facts do show that an abused person does always go back to their abuser,,,,,,,,,,,,
Those “outsiders” who are slinging out the cruel heartless comments toward Randy have NO idea what that family has already been through. That family has suffered so much and yet as a whole are one of the kindest group of people anyone could ever ask to meet. They would do anything for you. I realize they are hurt but these people are just adding insult to injury with their hateful unkind words and wishes for harm to Randy and then in the next entry or sentence they call them a Christain???? That is almost like they are mocking God. I would be too afraid to do something like that. I think the
Bible speaks fairly plain against hypocrisy. If they had read it, they would know this.
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