SALISBURY, N.C. —
A Salisbury dentist found bound and strangled in his bed had been prescribing drugs to young women in exchange for sexual favors, according to search warrants.

Detectives wrote in the warrant that Dr. James David Boyd, 47, made personal appointments at his office to prescribe the drugs, mainly to young females, WSOC-TV in Charlotte reported Tuesday.

The warrant said Boyd planned to meet with Candice Drye, 23, of Mocksville last week, "for the purpose of obtaining prescription narcotics, money and alcoholic beverages in exchange for sexual favors."

Drye is one of three people charged with murder in Boyd’s death. Also are charged are Jonathan Barnett, 18, and Christoper Boyd, 21, who are cousins. Christopher Boyd is not related to the victim.

The victim’s body was found Thursday morning by one of his employees who went to his home to check on him after he didn’t arrived at work. Boyd was found in his bed with his hands and feet bound, and a cord wrapped around his neck.

A spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office said the State Bureau of Investigation had been investigating Boyd for diverting prescription drugs for illegal use. Spokeswoman Noelle Talley said the investigation began June 12 and ended with Boyd’s death.

An answering machine picked up at the home of a Dr. James Boyd in Salisbury on Tuesday but was disconnected when a reporter identified herself.

Murder suspect says dentist traded for sex

One of three people charged in the slaying of Dr. James David Boyd told the police she met with the dentist at his office last week to exchange sex for money, drugs and alcohol.

Candice Jo Drye also told the police she wasn’t the only person who performed sex acts with Boyd in exchange for prescription drugs, according to an affidavit Salisbury police Detective J.D. Barber filed Friday and which was made public Tuesday. The statement names no one else.

Several witnesses, who also weren’t named in Barber’s statement, told investigators that Boyd “made personal appointments at his office without the knowledge of his office staff, and that these appointments were made for prescribing narcotics in exchange for sexual favors, mainly to young females.”

Also released Tuesday were copies of search warrants from Boyd’s office, on Statesville Boulevard in Salisbury, and in the same building as his dentist wife’s.

Among the items police took from the office: a blue plastic vibrator; 10 unused condoms; an empty plastic Nikolai vodka bottle; a Food Lion receipt for beer; a camcorder and videocassette tapes; and four notes with names and numbers, including Drye’s.

It’s unclear how Drye or the other two suspects knew the dentist. Drye’s relatives have told the Observer she was not a patient of Boyd’s but had visited his office, where he prescribed hydrocodone for her. Hydrocodone is a common but potentially habit-forming painkiller.

Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said Tuesday that last week, after Boyd’s body was discovered, he received a call from a woman who told him her daughter was a patient of James Boyd’s three years ago. The woman said that after her daughter’s dental visit, Boyd called her several times and invited her to his home, Wilhelm said.

No police report was filed, and Wilhelm said the department didn’t receive any complaints about Boyd when he was alive.

The N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners, which investigates complaints about dentists, never took any disciplinary action against Boyd, said Terry Friddle, the board’s deputy operations officer, who handles such investigations. Boyd had been a licensed dentist in good standing since June 1986, Friddle said.

Drye, 23, Jonathan Barnett, 18, and Christopher Boyd, 21, remained in the Rowan County jail without bond Tuesday, charged with James Boyd’s murder. Christopher Boyd is not related to the dentist. Barnett and Christopher Boyd are cousins.

A co-worker of James Boyd’s found his body at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Boyd, 47, had been strangled. He was in bed, with his feet and hands tied with electrical cord and his hands tied to the bed.

Boyd’s funeral was held Tuesday, with hundreds packing Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury.

Drye’s stepmother has told the Observer that Drye met Boyd at his office Wednesday night, then went to his home for drinks. At 4:19 the next morning, police pulled over a white Chevrolet pickup truck containing Drye, Barnett and Christopher Boyd. Police won’t say what they believe happened between Wednesday night and the traffic stop and have not established what time James Boyd died, Wilhelm said.