Man accused of killing woman, then confessing under someone else’s name

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Police carrying out a welfare check in Hanover, Indiana, this month discovered the body of a 35-year-old woman who had been stabbed inside her home. The case seemed straightforward: A man from Kentucky had apparently sent messages to the victim’s family admitting to the killing and was soon arrested.

Prosecutors now allege that while the killer was behind the messages, he did not use his own name and instead attempted to frame an innocent man, who spent more than a week in jail before he was freed.

Nigel Thomas, 34 – also known as “Nati Bang” – was arrested Friday in Oxford, Ohio, in the killing of Wilma Robertson, Jefferson County Prosecutor David Sutter said in a Monday statement. The man he is accused of framing was released the same day.

After Robertson’s killing, Thomas “engaged in an elaborate plan to frame a man named Shawn Bailey for her death,” the statement said. “Thomas fabricated evidence to incriminate Shawn Bailey,” including setting up multiple social media accounts in Bailey’s name, which he then allegedly used to send the false confessions to Robertson’s relatives.

Bailey was arrested on April 15, the day after Robertson’s body was discovered. He was released 10 days later after new evidence, including DNA analysis, ruled him out as a suspect, the statement said.

The Jefferson County prosecutor and several police departments involved in the case did not immediately respond to Washington Post requests for comment early Wednesday, and it was not clear whether Thomas had legal representation. Sutter’s statement did not provide any further details about Robertson’s death or a potential motive behind the killing. He said in an email that all court documents for the case are under seal.

Robertson had two children and worked as a certified nursing assistant, according to an obituary posted online by the Morgan and Nay Funeral Center in Madison, Indiana, and “would often post videos on social media bringing encouragement and inspiration to those who followed her.”

“The criminal justice system is ultimately a search for the truth,” Sutter said in the statement. “Multiple agencies across three states worked tirelessly in their pursuit of all investigative leads to uncover the crimes of Nigel Thomas and clear Shawn Bailey.”