INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A Kansas City man was charged on Thursday in connection to the stabbing death of an Independence woman.
Prosecutors charged Cory L. King, 26, with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection to the death of 63-year-old Louise Dickey.
According to court documents, police tracked King down in a Kansas City hotel late Tuesday where they say he admitted to killing Dickey. King reportedly told police Dickey refused to let him sleep on her couch even though he told her he wasn’t in any shape to leave because he was under the influence of drugs, which led to an argument that turned violent. King said he then used a box cutter found inside of the home to stab Dickey to death and left her in the bathtub.
King also told prosecutors that after he killed Dickey, he took $10, the keys to her 1998 Buick Park Avenue, a debit card and prescription pill bottles from her purse.
A neighbor who noticed Dickey’s vehicle missing decided to contact Dickey’s daughter. Dickey’s daughter later found her mother’s body inside of the home when she went to check on her.
Prosecutors say officers found Dickey’s vehicle at a convenience store along Truman Road, where surveillance video showed King trying to use Dickey’s debit card at an ATM outside of the store. King admitted to prosecutors that he tried to use the card, but he says the attempt was unsuccessful. Prosecutors also say King used Dickey’s cell phone while outside of the business.
Prosecutors say King was a nephew of one of Dickey’s long-time friends and had visited her home in the past and the two were seen the day before she was murdered at a Walgreens and later at a Dollar General.
Dickey is the second homicide victim in Independence for 2016.
Prosecutors have requested that bond be set at $500,000 cash.
