Police: Homicide victim believed to have been in motel room for days before discovery
A Lexington police detective believes the victim in April 8’s homicide investigation at the Catalina Motel on West New Circle Road had been there for multiple days before his body was found.
Several new details about the incident were revealed at a preliminary hearing for the two suspects, Danny Sims and Alysha Noel, on Friday. A judge ultimately found probable cause in both of their cases and sent them to a grand jury.
Police responded to the motel on April 8 after receiving a tip that there may be a dead person in a hotel room, detective Kristyn Klingshirn said in court Fridaya. Police responded and did find a body, later identified as William Ashby, underneath a mattress and box spring with his feet bound together by duct tape.
Court documents say Noel struck Ashby several times with a metal object, and Noel stabbed and cut him.
Police also located an overdue rental car leased to Sims directly in front of the room, which had two newly-purchased tarps, a roll of duct tape, and some of Noel’s belongings, according to Klingshirn.
Klingshirn said Sims and Noel were on scene when police arrived and were taken to police headquarters for questioning.
During a one-to-two hour interview with Sims, he told police all three were in the room when Ashby and Noel got into an argument, according to Klingshirn. Ashby claimed Noel was doing drugs in the bathroom, according to Klingshirn.
Sims got involved in the argument, then proceeded to assault Ashby with the metal tool before Noel cut Ashby’s throat with a box cutter while he was lying on the floor, Klingshirn said.
Based on evidence and accounts, Klingshirn said she believes the killing took place April 4, four days before police found Ashby’s body. Sims told police he and Noel went to the Bryan Station Inn and stayed there for two nights after the incident, Klingshirn said.
Some point later in the week, Sims returned to the Catalina Motel and cleaned the murder weapons, Klingshirn said. He allegedly placed the box-cutter in a dresser drawer and the metal tool in his rental car. Both items were found by police.
Sims went back to the Bryan Station Inn afterwards, where he and Noel stayed another night, according to Klingshirn.
Both Sims and Noel later went back to the Catalina Motel and cleaned up the room, according to Klingshirn. They threw away Ashby’s belongings as well as a blood-stained cutout section of carpet in a dumpster, which was picked up on Thursday and wasn’t recovered by police, Klingshirn said.
Sims and Noel covered the cut-out carpet spot with a mat, according to Klingshirn. Noel left afterwards but Sims stayed the night in the room. Noel returned Friday before police arrived.
Noel claimed she had not been in the motel room until that Friday, but a witness said he’d seen Noel enter the room multiple times, Klingshirn said. The witness also said Noel told him that she got into an argument with Asbhy because she entered the room and woke him up.
Klingshirn said there is no surveillance footage at the motel.
Sims told police that Noel was his girlfriend, but Noel denies that relationship, according to Klingshirn. Noel had outstanding warrants.
Both Sims and Noel are being lodged at the Fayette County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 11:21 AM.
