VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach man who previously served 20 years for murdering a woman in Ohio was found guilty this week of first-degree murder and other charges in the 2020 killing of a local woman.
James Richard King, 71, formerly of the 600 block of Liberty Bell Road, was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, first-degree murder while committing object sexual penetration, and object sexual penetration. Circuit Court Judge James C. Lewis presided over the three-day trial.
Prosecutors say King and the victim, Lexie Walters, were in an on and off relationship. On Sept. 16, 2020, the two went to a bar for several hours. King, who ordered and purchased all the drinks, drank five Budweiser beers. Walters drank four rum and cokes and had 12 shots of Fireball Whisky. When the bartender realized King was giving all the shots to Walters, she stopped serving them. King offered her a large tip if she would continue serving Walters, and said to the bartender, “She [Walters] is dying anyway.”
King and Walters left the bar and went to the hotel room he had rented at the Days Inn on Bonney Road. Video surveillance showed them entering the hotel room together. About an hour later, King exited the hotel room and went to his vehicle. The surveillance showed a shirtless and shoeless King making multiple trips to and from the hotel room to his vehicle throughout the evening and the next morning; however, Walters was not seen on the surveillance video again.
The next morning, King went to a Virginia Beach Police Department precinct and told staff and police officers that there was a body in his hotel room and that he would like the police to find the body before housekeeping does. He said, “I’ve flipped out before,” “I did a murder gig in Ohio,” and “I did the same thing I’m doing right now.” He admitted that on the way to the police station, he drove around drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and taking cash out of his bank account because he knew he was going to jail.
Police responded to the Days Inn and found Lexie Walters’ body on a couch. She suffered asphyxiation by strangling and smothering and blunt force trauma to multiple areas of her body.
In 1990, King was convicted of a similar murder in 1986 in Lucas County, Ohio. In that case, the victim was the mother of the bride at a wedding King attended. In that case, King also appeared at the police station in Lucas County and turned himself in. Police later found the victim’s body in King’s apartment. King served 20 years for her murder.
King also attacked a woman in Virginia Beach in 2018 and was sentenced to 12 months for assault and battery.
King will be sentenced on Feb. 13.
