Woman killed in Hillsborough stabbing was ‘a precious soul,’ her sister says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Woman fatally stabbed arriving for work; homeowner arrested at VA home.
- Victim remembered as devoted housekeeper, mother and faithful helper
- Suspect held on felony fugitive warrant; extradition underway, no charges yet
Paula Floyd was friends with the man accused of stabbing her Friday and had been cleaning his family’s home for many years, according to relatives and a 911 call released this week.
Floyd, 54, of Durham was a self-employed housekeeper. She had just arrived for work at the home on Running Pine Court in Hillsborough shortly after 11 a.m. Friday when she was stabbed in the neck with a knife, according to a 911 call obtained through a public records request by The News & Observer.
Homeowner Matthew Vukmer, 53, was arrested Friday evening at another home that he owned near Galax, Virginia. He is still awaiting extradition to Orange County and has not yet been charged in Floyd’s death.
On social media, friends and family remembered Floyd as a caring woman with strong faith in God, who always showed up for others and made sure they were taken care of. She graduated from Northern High School in Durham and also attended Vance-Granville Community College, where she studied cosmetology and eventually earned a license, her sister Wendy Stocking said.
“Her joy was cleaning houses for people, and she had several regular clients,” Stocking said. “She would always bring them Christmas cookies, and she would talk about them in a very special way. They were family to her.”
Floyd’s death still doesn’t make sense, Stocking, 60, told The N&O, recalling almost daily phone conversations and visits with her sister, who lived nearby.
A supportive sister and caring friend
They were always close, Stocking said. Floyd was mischievous and adventurous as a young girl, she said, and grew up to be protective of everyone, sharing her laughter and “covering you with her prayers and her love.”
“She was a bright light, and she was always there for me,” Stocking said, watching their son at night when she had to go to the hospital and organizing a group to fix up their nursery when they brought home their adopted son.
“She had the nursery painted, and it looked like a baby store exploded in there, because she had so much clothes and stuff. There were people there, and one of our friends had painted giraffes on the wall. She had him do that,” Stocking said.
Floyd played softball in junior high and grew up to be the biggest cheerleader for her sons and their friends at ballgames, dance recitals and swim meets, Stocking said. She recalled her sister running down the side of the pool or following bikes around a BMX track, yelling encouragement at her sons.
There were relaxing times, too, camping at local lakes and the beach, hosting Easter egg hunts, and throwing birthday parties and Mother’s Day gatherings for family at her house, Stocking said. They went shopping together and enjoyed “sister night” with each other and their sister-in-law, she said. She always made time to stop and help strangers, she said.
On the night she died, Floyd was planning to pick her up so they could attend their great-niece’s dance competition, Stocking said.
“The word ‘missed’ doesn’t even describe how empty it is without her,” Stocking said. She wants to see justice for her sister, and for the person who killed her to take responsibility, she said.
“I just want her to be remembered as a precious soul who somebody took,” she said, “and if you know her, she would have forgiven him if she just lived.”
Floyd is also survived by her mother Donna Coltrane, her husband Frank, and two sons Dillon and Dale. The sisters lost their father Donald Tilley in August, and their brother Stanley Tilley in 2020.
The family will hold a private event with friends Saturday at their grandmother’s home in Rougemont, Stocking said. A GoFundMe has been set up to help.
911 call raises questions
In a 911 call released Monday, Matthew Vukmer’s wife told the telecommunicator that she was sitting at her desk when she heard Floyd fall. She ran around the corner to find her husband attacking Floyd, she said.
Vukmer “thought she was someone else,” she said, as she put her hand on Floyd’s neck to slow the bleeding. A male voice in the background could be heard saying, “We got Vladimir Putin.”
“I don’t know who he thought she was,” the wife said. A few minutes later, tires could be heard peeling out on the street, as she pleaded with Floyd to “stay with me, Paula.”
“There’s no one here but me and him, and he just got in the truck,” she said on the call. “I think he went to go flag [the ambulance] down.”
Floyd died at the scene, and Vukmer’s wife told investigators he might be heading to Virginia, according to records and Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood.
Jailed in Virginia, awaiting court hearing
Orange County Investigator Trent Hall, a member of the U.S. Marshals Carolina Regional Fugitive Task Force, started working with Virginia law enforcement to track him down, Blackwood said. The Capital Area Regional Task Force in Grayson County, Virginia, arrested Vukmer at his Virginia home around 5:15 p.m. Friday.
Vukmer declined to speak to investigators and asked for an attorney, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. Online public records show Vukmer did not have a previous criminal history and had been licensed as an insurance agent and a securities broker.
Vukmer is now being held on a felony fugitive warrant and was in court Tuesday, where he was appointed an attorney, Virginia court records show. His next Virginia court date is April 6, where he could be released for extradition back to North Carolina.
Court records show he is in custody in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Grayson County. Defendants being held for extradition can waive the process or wait for a governor’s warrant and a court hearing, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Alicia Stemper said.
Questions about mental state
Blackwood called Floyd’s death “a tragic tragic loss,” adding that friends told him she was “solid, salt of the earth, very faith based, likeable.”
“Mike Andrews, the [former] sheriff over in Durham County, went to church with her and said … she was just a loving, very caring person who took a lot of pride in the work that she did taking care of other people,” Blackwood said.
He also heard from Vukmer’s friends, who said he worked as a financial adviser and was “solid, a great guy.”
“Something obviously happened,” Blackwood said when asked about Vukmer’s mental health.
“To think that somebody can have a mental break to cause that is tragic … he took somebody’s life, and I can’t imagine what the families are going through. Mental illness is a tragic thing when it goes in a bad direction.”
Investigators are continuing to speak with family members and evaluate the evidence, including Vukmer’s truck and his cell phone, which was thrown from the truck, Blackwood said. A folding pocketknife that might have been used has not been found, he said.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 4:14 PM.
