Brian Gene Funderburk was also charged with burglary on Wednesday.
Authorities cited an extensive record of domestic abuse between Funderburk and his 25-year-old ex-wife, Breanna Moses.
Investigators believe he killed Moses late Friday or early Saturday, then set her father's two-story farmhouse on fire. Her body was found by firefighters Saturday morning. Her children, Nicholas, 4, and Emily, 7, were away visiting relatives at the time of the slaying.
``A lot of times she said she was scared,'' Moses' close friend Jennifer Gurley said Wednesday. ``But she said she can't be scared all the time, because if she was, she couldn't really live her life.''
Though divorced in early 2000, Funderburk was ordered to spend 15 days in jail in September of that year after threatening to ``hunt down and kill'' Moses, court records show.
According to sheriff's department records, deputies were called to Moses' home 11 times in five years in response to threats, harassing telephone calls and domestic violence.
Funderburk threatened to kill Moses at least three times, and, according to records, he handcuffed her to a chair and sexually assaulted her.
Funderburk remains in police custody.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/198491