A Laurinburg man says he is wrongfully accused in the death of a Laurel Hill woman found murdered in her home last week.

William Dean Ivey, III, 27, had his first appearance before a judge Monday. He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 46-year old Michelle Parks.

"You are taking a picture of an innocent man," Ivey told a reporter on the way from a Scotland County courtroom. He was given a court-appointed lawyer.

Ivey was arrested Friday at 8 p.m. at his 225 North Main St. residence, according to Sheriff Shep Jones.

The sheriff says the arrest, which occurred about 53 hours after the body was found, was the result of good investigative work that led deputies to Ivey.

"After interviewing Mr. Ivey and finding some of the victim's personal property on him, he was arrested."

Jones would not say what Ivey's relationship was to the victim or what property Ivey had in his possession. He also would not release a motive.

The sheriff did say it was unrelated to Parks' 82-year old husband, Wayne Parks, who was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for sexually molesting children.

Parks was found Wednesday with hands bound behind her back, a plastic bag had been placed over her head and she had received a number of wounds that appeared to be stab or gunshot wounds. A medical examiner said the woman died of asphyxiation.

Jones says this is the most brutal murder the county has seen in years.

"It doesn't happen often."

Ivey is the son of William Dean Ivey, Jr., a bail bondsman in Laurinburg.

The bondsman's other son, 25-year old Thomas Scott Ivey, of Peele Chapel Road in Laurel Hill, was arrested Aug. 17 and charged with armed robbery in connection with the Diamond's robbery and also with maintaining a drug dwelling, trafficking by manufacturing, trafficking by possession and conspiracy to traffic.

His bond was set at $200,000, but his father bailed him out.

Jones says William Ivey, III is being held without bond.