Inset: Stephen Buchanan (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation). Background: The residence where Buchanan buried his slain uncle in Cleveland, N.C. (Google Maps).
A man from North Carolina has been sentenced to several decades in prison after being found guilty of murdering his uncle, who was in his seventies, and attempting to conceal the crime by burying the body in his backyard, according to authorities this week.
Stephen Eric Buchanan, aged 40, confessed to charges of second-degree murder, concealing a death, and illegal firearm possession following the summer 2024 death of his 72-year-old uncle, Charles Knight. Buchanan also admitted to four instances of acquiring property through deceit.
Rowan County Superior Court Judge Michael S. Adkins handed down a sentence ranging from 51 to 63 years of imprisonment for Buchanan.
The grim discovery was made on August 4, 2024, when police conducted a welfare check at Knight’s home on Johnstone Road in Cleveland, a small community located around 45 miles north of Charlotte.
Officers from the Cleveland Police Department uncovered Knight’s partially interred remains in the backyard. As reported by Charlotte’s NBC affiliate WCNC, additional remains were discovered in a burn pit, confirmed by the Salisbury Post.
Authorities issued a warrant for Buchanan’s arrest four days following the discovery, and he was detained on August 12, 2024, according to Rowan County court documents.
In September 2024, the defendant’s brother told a news outlet based in the United Kingdom that he was the one who called police after not seeing their uncle for several days and then seeing his brother using their uncle’s car.
“I asked Stephen where our uncle was, and he told me he was in Louisiana,” the brother told the Daily Express. “He had been going to yard sales and selling my uncle’s things. I got a call from my uncle’s neighbor one day who said there was a fire burning for three days and they could smell a dead animal.”
That report was cause for concern.
“I went to my uncle’s garden to check out the fire and I found human remains in the pit,” the since-sentenced man’s brother continued.
The investigation ultimately identified Buchanan as the lead suspect. He was first apprehended on outstanding warrants in South Carolina and then extradited back to the Tar Heel State.
The convicted killer’s motive and the victim’s cause of death remain unclear.
After the arrest, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation was the lead agency on the case. In a statement announcing the court’s sentencing decision, the agency thanked their partners.
“The SBI is proud of the great work by the men and women of the SBI, the Cleveland Police Department, and the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office for thoroughly investigating this case and bringing closure to the family of the victim,” the agency said.
