A Winston-Salem man apparently stabbed his estranged wife to death, then hanged himself a
few miles away in Davidson County, authorities said yesterday.
Allison Gaither, 30, an employee of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, died in a
neighbor's yard in the 2000 block of Ardmore Village Lane, just two days after taking out a
domestic-violence protective order against her husband, Cory Dewayne Gaither.
Police Capt. David Clayton said that Cory Gaither, 32, of 2379 Greenway Ave. came to his
estranged wife's home about 5:30 a.m. Allison Gaither either ran or was forced out of her home, where her three children were inside.
Investigators found a blood-splattered Kia Sedona at the house and a trail of blood that led
from Allison Gaither's driveway to the street and then behind the next-door neighbor's house,
where she had collapsed and died, just a few feet away from a child's plastic play set.
Police issued an alert for Cory Gaither's car, an older model Buick Century. At some point, Cory Gaither apparently got on N.C. 150 and headed south toward Davidson County. At 7:14 a.m., three motorists called the Davidson County Sheriff's Office about a man hanging from a tree limb near Friendship Church Road and Chrisonya Lane in the Reedy Community.
Sheriff David Grice said that Cory Gaither tied an electrical extension cord around his neck, climbed the tree, and jumped from a lower branch. The branch was low enough to the ground that Gaither could have stood up, Grice said, which indicated that he was not murdered but hanged himself. His car was found in a nearby parking lot.
Clayton said that Allison Gaither had two children, ages 3 and 5, with Cory Gaither, and an older child from a previous relationship. Robert Winfrey, who lives across the street from Gaither's house on Ardmore Village Lane, said he didn't know the couple well, but they had always been friendly to him.
He said he was unaware of any problems between them, but once saw police show up at the house and take the husband away in handcuffs. Winfrey said he was stunned to learn of the wife's death. "It's a shock," he said. "She was really nice."
Among the allegations in the protective order, Allison Gaither had contended that her husband had called her at least eight times Tuesday with threats to take her children. He called her names, and then showed up at her house at 9 p.m. that night, upset that one of her friends was there.
Cory Gaither left after she refused to let him in, but he called her again three hours later and then showed up at her bedroom window, yelling profanities. He then tried to get into the children's' bedroom, according to the complaint.
Allison Gaither also said that on Nov. 14, Cory Gaither used a key to get into the house and assaulted a male friend while two of the children watched. He punched a hole in the wall, broke down a bathroom door, threw a laptop, and stomped it. Then he held Allison Gaither down as he yelled at her, the complaint says.
According to court records, Cory Gaither was convicted in 1998 of possessing marijuana and trespassing and ordered to stay away from Kimberly Park. He was also convicted of misdemeanor assault on a female in August 2001, and of misdemeanor communicating threats in 2002.
Superintendent Don Martin called Allison Gaither's death "a tragedy that has affected all our school family," and offered condolences to her children. "Our hearts go out to them and all other family members," Martin said.
She had worked in accountability services, which includes responsibility for testing.
"That office is absolutely devastated today," Martin said. Hired by the school system in 2003, Allison Gaither worked at the school system's administrative offices at 1605 Miller St.
Initially, she worked in alternative education, which is based in the administrative offices. Then she worked at Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy for a couple of years before returning to the administrative offices and the job with accountability services.
Theo Helm, a spokesman for the school system, said that she was the sort of person who greeted everyone. "She knew everybody in the building," Helm said. "She was very sweet, always friendly and upbeat."
Allison Gaither's death is the 15th homicide in Winston-Salem this year. At this point last year, there
were 19.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
727-7327
Journal reporter Kim Underwood contributed to this story.
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