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His Name Is Andy Banks: White Male Trying to Sell Range Rover Murdered by Black Man in “Craigslist Transaction Gone Wrong”
by Paul Kersey, DC Clothesline:
Previously on SBPDL: His Name Is Joshua Grey: Young White Male Murdered by Two Black Teenagers in Richmond for His IPhone
Social capital and diversity: the latter negates the former.
His name is Andy Banks. He was just trying to sell his 2011 Range Rover Sport. [Body found in rural Virginia confirmed as Raleigh man Andy Banks, WRAL.com, September 19, 2020]:
A body found in rural Virginia is confirmed to be that of a Raleigh man who has been missing since last weekend. Raleigh police have charged a suspect in the case with murder.
William Anderson “Andy” Banks Jr., 39, was last seen Saturday afternoon in the Woodburn Road area near Cameron Village. Officials say was meeting a potential buyer for his silver 2011 Range Rover Sport, whom he met through Craigslist, outside a closed K&W Cafeteria.
There was evidence of foul play in Banks’ disappearance, and police said they were investigating the case as a homicide on Wednesday.
The body of Banks was found in Chatham, Va., on Thursday by the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office was sent to a coroner in Roanoke, Va., for an autopsy and positive identification, police said.
Before Banks’ body was identified, however, Raleigh police filed a first-degree murder charge Thursday evening against Justin Fernando Merritt, 34, of Danville, Va.
District Judge Ned Mangum ordered that Merritt be held without bond and set his next court date for Oct. 7.
After finding Banks’ cellphone along Interstate 40 in Raleigh on Sunday, investigators traced the Craigslist buyer’s phone to Danville.
Danville police found Banks’ SUV under a tarp parked behind a vacant building in town on Monday, according to an application for a search warrant.
Merritt, who lives a few doors down from where the vehicle was found, according to the warrant application, was arrested Tuesday on charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon, larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the stolen vehicle.
