Crime

Man held without bail in stabbing murder of woman in Stoughton

Victor Carter allegedly stabbed Amber Buckner about 30 times.

Amber Buckner. Courtesy of Linda Malone

January 17, 2023

Prosecutors shed new light on the brutal murder of Amber Buckner, who was killed in Stoughton last month.

Victor Carter, 39, allegedly stabbed Buckner about 30 times before fleeing to New York, where he was arrested on Dec. 17, The Boston Globe reported.

Buckner “had approximately 30 stab wounds. She had defensive wounds on her hands. And the handle of what was later determined to be a four-inch tactical knife was protruding from her right temple,” Assistant District Attorney Carolyn L. Hely reportedly said during Carter’s arraignment Tuesday.

Carter was ordered held without bail in Stoughton District Court. He faces one murder charge, and has pleaded not guilty. Carter is due back in court on Feb. 22.

Buckner’s body was found on Dec. 13 in a shed behind a house that she had reportedly been living in with Carter.

Buckner was last seen with Carter at about 2 a.m., the Globe reported. He took a rideshare to South Station in Boston at about 6 a.m., and boarded a train to New York.

Investigators found men’s clothing and size 13 shoes in the shed where Buckner’s body was found, prosecutors said. These items were “consistent” with what Carter was wearing around the time of Buckner’s death. They also found bloodstained clothing and a large pool of blood in the shed.

Carter reportedly has a history of legal troubles.

“He’s not without prior significant contacts with the court,” Hely said, according to the Globe. “In addition, the Commonwealth notes that on any occasions on which the defendant’s been afforded the opportunity to be placed on probation, he’s violated conditions of release.”

A woman named Bianca, who owns the home, told the Globe that Carter introduced her to Buckner.

“She was super intelligent,” Bianca told the paper. “She seemed to feel safe, where she hadn’t in a long time.”

But Buckner started behaving erratically in December, the Globe reported, and Buckner told Bianca that Carter was not taking his medications. At one point, Carter punched Buckner in the head without warning, and Bianca and her boyfriend asked him to leave.

Buckner had been in rehab for substance abuse issues, but was working on turning her life around and reconnecting with “her baby girl, who had been taken into foster care,” Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham wrote last week.