A Chapel Hill man is facing serious charges after Durham police arrested him this week in connection with the killing of a woman whose body was found in a wooded area near the Glenn School Road Walmart last fall. The victim was discovered on Sept. 18, 2025, and the suspect has been identified as 51-year-old Anson Allen Haviland.
According to The News & Observer, Haviland was booked on counts of murder and attempted first-degree rape and is being held in the Durham County jail without bond. The News & Observer reports that investigators, citing court documents and search warrants, allege the victim suffered two stab wounds and was asphyxiated with a plastic bag.
As reported by ABC11, officers with the Durham Police Department found the woman on Sept. 18 in a wooded area near the Walmart at 1525 Glenn School Road, where she was pronounced dead at the scene. Family members later identified her as 44-year-old Kenashi McGraw.
What investigators say
Court records and a search warrant reviewed by The News & Observer state that Haviland walked into Durham police headquarters three days after the killing and provided information to detectives. The documents say he told officers he had consensual intercourse with the victim on Sept. 13, that he recently had a cut on his pinky he said came from opening something, and that he submitted a buccal swab for DNA testing…