Maiden Man Sentenced In Murder Case

A Maiden man has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison after pleading guilty in a 2021 murder case.

On July 13, Thomas Wayne Mathis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old William Buster McCarter of Lincolnton. A judge sentenced Mathis to 254 to 317 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.

McCarter’s body was discovered on July 13, 2021, after Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle off Smith Farm Road. Deputies found the unoccupied vehicle in a secluded wooded area, and a K-9 search led to McCarter’s body.

Detectives conducted a lengthy investigation before charging Mathis and Madison Dawn Lail with first-degree murder in February 2023.

As part of a plea agreement, the murder charge against Lail was dismissed. She pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and was sentenced in October 2025 to a minimum of 72 months in prison.

Story: Rob Eastwood-WHKY