Singletary, Patrick convicted in 2021 Gold Hill murder
Published 8:23 pm Monday, November 10, 2025
SALISBURY — Two men will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of murder in the 2021 killing of Judy Eller Hoffner.
Both Robert Maurice Singletary of Salisbury and Douglas Martin Patrick of Winston-Salem were convicted of first-degree murder, breaking and entering, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon. During the trial, the original robbery with a dangerous weapon charges were changed to attempted robbery, as there was no evidence presented that anything had been actually stolen from the home.
Singletary was also convicted as a habitual felon, as he had multiple felony convictions, including prior convictions for common law robbery and breaking and entering.
Hoffner, who lived on Wyatt’s Grove Church Road in the Gold Hill area, was found dead, with two gunshot wounds, in her home by her ex-husband Roy Stiller around 8 p.m. on June 1, 2021. Stiller had been on the property to feed his cows, which were pastured behind her home, and noticed that the backdoor had been left ajar.
During the investigation, police utilized Google geofencing to identify Patrick, whose phone had been pinged in the area of the house 63 times, and Singletary, whose phone had been pinged five times, as suspects.
However, both Singletary’s attorney, Thomas King, and Patrick’s attorney, Ken Darty, raised questions about the investigation, particularly criticizing the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office’s inability to discover any physical or DNA evidence.
They both took aim at the detectives for failing to follow up to ensure the shell casings found at the home had been tested to see if they had been fired from the same or different guns. Darty also leveled criticism at the failure to test the tire iron allegedly used to break into the home for fingerprints or other trace evidence.
District Attorney Brandy Cook prosecuted the case alongside Assistant District Attorney Caleb Newman.
Both Darty and King filed a notice to appeal the verdict.
More information on the trial and the sentencing, including comments from both the prosecution and defense, will be provided in a full story in the Thursday edition of the Salisbury Post.