3 people found dead in camper had been murdered, North Carolina sheriff says

Mark Price, The Charlotte Observer on Mar 23, 2026

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A triple homicide was discovered when deputies searched a camper parked outside a home in rural North Carolina, according to investigators in Robeson County.

The bodies were found around 6:45 a.m. Sunday, March 22, near Pembroke, about a 100-mile drive southwest from downtown Raleigh.

“Deputies responded to 1141 Melinda Road ... in reference to two deceased individuals found inside a camper. Upon arrival, deputies discovered a third individual deceased within the camper,” the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The three dead have been identified as: Triston Goins, 28, of Maxton; Howard Dean Jones, 51, of Lumberton, and Ashley N. Jacobs, 35, of Pembroke, officials said.

A suspect was arrested around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, after a standoff six miles north at the Robinwood Apartments in Red Springs, officials said.

Ethan Lee Spaulding, 27, of Maxton, has been charged with three counts of first degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and discharging a weapon within an enclosure to incite fear, officials said. He is being held without bond.

Details of a motive have not been released, but investigators say the killings were an example of “drugs playing a major role in violent crime” in Robeson County.

“This arrest marks a significant step toward justice in what is a truly senseless and tragic triple homicide in the Prospect Community outside of Pembroke,” Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in a release.

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