Rhonda Hinson Killed by Unknown Sniper

[n8riley]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19820120&id=wcwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vyYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2832,3663097
The most famous of Sniper Killers The D.C. Snipers John Allen Mohammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were a team and operated in the Washington D.C. area which raised their profile but by no mean are they the first.In 2003 West Virginia had a number of similar sniper murder which remain unsolved. I must admit the showers at night because she felt dirty and the "Is it ever okay to go with a married man" make me think that it was not random and I think the cars on the side of the road could have been the sniper or the man the raped her or she willing had an affair and felt bad about. I'd like to know what you guy think I know their are some long threads about this an one discounts the sniper thesis but it maybe Rhonda was the first and the only kill.

[MissFit29]

I don't think it was random. Why would the man have stopped to take Rhonda out of her car? I think it was meant to scare her, but not kill her. Her murder was an accident, IMO.

[MegtheEgg86]

I don't think it was random, either. I think Rhonda was targeted, and I think the intent was to merely frighten, not kill her, for three reasons:

1. The rifle was a high-power weapon, capable of piercing straight through the exterior of a vehicle. While this weapon was certainly capable of killing her had the aim been deliberate, it would in any case leave a definite "bullet hole", leaving Rhonda with little doubt as to what would happen to her if she did not comply with whatever demands were being made of her.

2. The shot was fired from a less-than-advantageous position (I have personally been to this site, and I believe another poster here, Thinman, lives or used to live in or near the vicinity). The area underneath the I-40 bridge is at the bottom of a steep hill. Rhonda entered Mineral Springs Mountain Road via the westbound I-40 exit coming from Hickory, into the lower of aforementioned hill. The impact occured at the top of this hill, where I believe the shooter thought he/she had little chance of hitting Rhonda herself, but definitely pierce her back bumper. If the shooter had wanted to kill her, he/she could've easily used the top of the bridge, the hill alongside the westbound exit (there are multiple trees to easily hide behind in this particular area), or even the hill alongside the westbound entrance ramp (again, a lot of concealment here as well).

3. She was pulled out of her vehicle and merely left alongside her car. Whomever killed her likely panicked when they saw her vehicle roll down the hill and stop. He/she rushed to assess whether she was alive or not, and once he/she confirmed she was dead, the individual fled. If the shooter had intended to kill her, he/she would have likely left her and her vehicle just as it was.


The third point also strongly leads me to believe the shooter was definitely not a professional hitman. I highly doubt someone who did this sort of thing on a regular basis would risk the chance--however slight, given the hour--of being identified (as we know, he WAS seen by at least one witness), or leaving behind possible forensic evidence.

[n8riley]

MissFit29 my gut tells me the same thing and I think she knew someone was after her maybe even knew the method having her father drive with her! I hust thought it adds to our knowledge of the case even if it is not what i believe the two may not be related Rhonda was unlucky to say the least...if she were raped at work and killed by a sniper.

[Thinman]

Yes Meg, I have been by the crime scene a few times. I agree that if the express intent was to kill Rhonda, that could have more easily been accomplished when she was stopped at the stop sign at the top of the exit ramp. This would have provided a clear head shot and no moving target. The shot that killed Rhonda was freakish in how it finally got to her.

I still have not discounted the possibility that a couple of drunken, hillbilly teenagers were out playing around with a high powered hunting rifle and thought it would be a brilliant idea to use a car as target practice. They could have been out spotlighting deer or something similar.

[Drakken]

I don't discount it being an intentional murder, either. It might be a sloppy job, either from a hitman or personally committed by someone who had a beef with Rhonda.

The argument "the killer would have had an easier time if he had waited until she was so and so, and with no chance of him being seen" presumes that the killer is some sort of omniscient super-criminal with a topographical knowledge of the crime scene. 99.9% of murderers are base human beings. There are plenty of imponderables and limitations around that leave doors open to making a costly mistake : pressure; next to no experience in, well, committing murder; low to medium intelligence; impulsiveness; etc.

Yet, still most people kill in less perfect circumstances, leave behind clues and witnesses, and end up being caught. The problem here is that, while the murder was in itself was made under sub-par conditions and the killer was allegedly seen, no one was caught.

And even if it were done by a hitman... A very rare minority of contract killers are professional pros, and even those can do a bad job once in a while. Most "hitmen" outside of the underworld are hobos or jacks "recruited" in bar and given 1000$ to get rid of someone. In average, these tend to be drunk at the commission of the crime (to dull the senses) AND not the brightest lightbulb in the room anyway.

[lamont74]

I live close to the area and would love to see this episode again.....only saw it one time 10+ years ago.

If anyone has any of the original episodes recorded I would love to trade some....email me.

[Mastermind]

And even if it were done by a hitman... A very rare minority of contract killers are professional pros, and even those can do a bad job once in a while. Most "hitmen" outside of the underworld are hobos or jacks "recruited" in bar and given 1000$ to get rid of someone. In average, these tend to be drunk at the commission of the crime (to dull the senses) AND not the brightest lightbulb in the room anyway

A lot of the quality of the hitman depends on:
1. The type of person the client is (rich, criminal, regular joe)
2. The motive for the killing. (how desparate and important the killing is)
3. How much access the client has to the criminal element. ( a drug dealer in New York is going to have a larger pool of options than a store shop owner in Chloride, AZ) A regular houswife is not going to know where to look for a hitman and will hire whomever she can find(usually a relative)...as opposed to a longshoreman who will now where to ask for a hired gun.


It;s difficult for me to believe that Rhonda;s strange behavior is not connected to her murder.

Has this guy she was seeing ever been identified. I would need to find an clear this person before going on to the random murder theory.

[Mastermind]

A very rare minority of contract killers are professional pros, and even those can do a bad job once in a while. Most "hitmen" outside of the underworld are hobos or jacks "recruited" in bar and given 1000$ to get rid of someone.

This is a very difficult thing to determine. Any data would be slanted to the lower end of hitmen.

Most of the statistics you would use would be from closed cases were it was determined a hitman was hired and the details were known. So your getting your data from situations were the hitman was discovered.

The data is based on the known..the problem is the unknown data.

1. How many missing people were victims of hitmen?
2. How many convicted killers were actually hired hitman. In those cases the police never knew that the killer was hired by somenone else.
3. There have to be countless unsolved murders that were sucessfully done by professional hitman.

[n8riley]

"Warning or Poorly executed murder" as I wrote that in as the title I thought Poorly executed murder it has so far been the "perfect crime" I consider not getting caught the perfect crime. Weather murder or a warning it does not matter it is MURDER in the eyes of the law. A thought I had about the Christmas party was could it be Rhonda had an affair with a man or maybe she was raped an lets say the creep saw Rhonda talking with another young employee he becomes enraged and goes home gets the gun and then lays in wait for Rhonda at what he sees as the best place maybe drunk from the party and kills her. But then again she begged her father to drive her into town to protect her or at least thats the way it seems . At the very least I think the party gave the killer where she would be he knew she had to go to the exit . I think the police are holding on to something.

[Mastermind]

"Warning or Poorly executed murder" as I wrote that in as the title I thought Poorly executed murder it has so far been the "perfect crime" I consider not getting caught the perfect crime

I dunno if I would call this a perfect crime. I think it;s more blind luck on the killer's part that he's avoided being listed as a suspect.

A thought I had about the Christmas party was could it be Rhonda had an affair with a man or maybe she was raped an lets say the creep saw Rhonda talking with another young employee he becomes enraged and goes home gets the gun and then lays in wait for Rhonda at what he sees as the best place maybe drunk from the party and kills her. But then again she begged her father to drive her into town to protect her or at least thats the way it seems

Sounds good.

'Course that would mean that there is a direct connection between Rhonda and her killer. The killer should be an employee or someone connected to the company.

[wiseguy182]

I definitely think Rhonda was targeted and that the intent was to kill. Her behavior in the weeks leading up to this make me think that, plus these things to consider:

1. Actually, I think if the guilty person's intent was to kill, he/she is more likely to go over to the victim to "make sure the job is done", whereas if the killer's intent was just to scare her, he/she's more likely to flee as if he goes over to the victim, they run a huge risk of being indentified if Rhonda survived. Additionally, since it is very difficult to get a precise shot on somebody that is driving presumably 55mph, a person has to figure if they shoot a gun in the general direction of that person, there is a fair chance they are going to end up killing her, which is NOT what they intended.

2. I definitely don't think this was a random act. Now theoretically, the murderer could have followed Rhonda home from work or some other time during the day, but they waited until a time when they knew Rhonda would be out late (The Christmas Party), and sure enough, she was driving home at 1 a.m., when there's very likely to not be too many cars on the road. They purposefully waited until this night I strongly believe. Additionally, if they had followed her home from the Christmas party (I think this may have been done by an employee), then Rhonda may have caught on before she was shot and tried to avoid it somehow (speeding up or what have you). But they hid out part way through her journey, so that it wouldn't seem as suspicious, and I definitely think they used a different car so Rhonda wouldn't recognize it (I think the witness said he believed as many as 3 cars other than Rhonda's were at the scene.)

[peachysquirt21]

I definitely think Rhonda was targeted and that the intent was to kill. Her behavior in the weeks leading up to this make me think that, plus these things to consider:

1. Actually, I think if the guilty person's intent was to kill, he/she is more likely to go over to the victim to "make sure the job is done", whereas if the killer's intent was just to scare her, he/she's more likely to flee as if he goes over to the victim, they run a huge risk of being indentified if Rhonda survived. Additionally, since it is very difficult to get a precise shot on somebody that is driving presumably 55mph, a person has to figure if they shoot a gun in the general direction of that person, there is a fair chance they are going to end up killing her, which is NOT what they intended.

2. I definitely don't think this was a random act. Now theoretically, the murderer could have followed Rhonda home from work or some other time during the day, but they waited until a time when they knew Rhonda would be out late (The Christmas Party), and sure enough, she was driving home at 1 a.m., when there's very likely to not be too many cars on the road. They purposefully waited until this night I strongly believe. Additionally, if they had followed her home from the Christmas party (I think this may have been done by an employee), then Rhonda may have caught on before she was shot and tried to avoid it somehow (speeding up or what have you). But they hid out part way through her journey, so that it wouldn't seem as suspicious, and I definitely think they used a different car so Rhonda wouldn't recognize it (I think the witness said he believed as many as 3 cars other than Rhonda's were at the scene.)

I agree

[cocytus]

To me, this case reads as an accident or an intentional murder but one where the the killer probably didn't know the victim.

1) The shooter shot through trunk of the car. Nobody that's trying to execute someone would attempt to hit them by shooting the metal of a car when the window makes for a better shot.

2) If this was an intentional murder (as in a hit) why didn't the killer fire a kill shot after removing the body from the car? There's no way a "pro" would" expect that a single wound in the chest (especially into a moving vehicle) would have killed his/her target. They would have a fired a second shot or used a knife to ensure that the target had been neutralized.

3) Why kill the woman along a relatively busy road when there are certainly spots along her route that would have provided more concealment than where they chose the hit?

4) If she was having an affair (a fact that seemingly was never determined) how was a 19 year old able to conceal that effectively? While a more mature woman would have been to conceal an affair,it's very doubtful that a naive teenager could have done as such.

5) Chevelle and Trans Am's (the vehicles seen by witnesses) are pretty rare vehicles, even when they were sold. And each of these vehicles would tires that were distinct to the individual cars. If plaster cast were made of nearby tire treads couldn't they have been matched them to cars that they researched for this case?

6) If it was a "hit", who would have paid for it? The most likely suspect would the "married man" that she was having a potential affair w/...but how would he have paid for the killing and then hide that fact?

Too many things point to this being a random killing or an accident,IMHO, I think that UM conflated details from varying narratives to make this appear to be a mystery in the manner of it being a hit.

[MegtheEgg86]

5) Chevelle and Trans Am's (the vehicles seen by witnesses) are pretty rare vehicles, even when they were sold. And each of these vehicles would tires that were distinct to the individual cars. If plaster cast were made of nearby tire treads couldn't they have been matched them to cars that they researched for this case?

Are you freaking kidding me? This is 1981 we're talking about. There are Chevelles and Trans Ams everywhere! Both were well-sold, common, and readily available vehicles. I have no idea why you would deem them rare, especially considering the time period.

[cocytus]

Are you freaking kidding me? This is 1981 we're talking about. There are Chevelles and Trans Ams everywhere! Both were well-sold, common, and readily available vehicles. I have no idea why you would deem them rare, especially considering the time period.

No...I'm not freaking kidding you.
The Second generation (1970–1981) Trans AM (the one shown in the segment) was a modest seller at the time,but it was also an expensive car and not a common sight in most areas.

The Chevelle Second generation (1968–1972) model shown in the segment was a bigger seller in the Malibu model than the sport model shown.

Both were considered to be "muscle/sport cars" and despite what movies/TV depicting or from that era shows you, they weren't the vehicles of choice for that time period.Primarily due to cost.

When I said rare, did I mean Bricklin/DeLorean rare? No, but growing up at that time, I can remember that seeing a Trans Am or a Chevelle would have turned a few heads. And remember two witnesses remembered the model of cars when questioned later by the police.

That probably wouldn't have occurred if the cars had been Novas,Dodge Diplomats or Olds Delta 88's.

[Killarney Rose]

Are you freaking kidding me? This is 1981 we're talking about. There are Chevelles and Trans Ams everywhere! Both were well-sold, common, and readily available vehicles. I have no idea why you would deem them rare, especially considering the time period.


I agree. They were. But a Chevelle is more likely to "blend in" than a trans am. But both were extremely popular and common cars back then.

I grew up then too, and I was a muscle car enthusiast, and owned several. Admittedly, they were Camaros, but that didn't mean I didn't know a lot about Chevelles and Trans Ams and have friends with them. Depending on the model, and it's cost they could've been rather plain, or very flashy. If this was a larger area, or a car from out of town, I could see them using a Trans Am and not getting caught. And especially a Chevelle. Those things were a dime a dozen in those days, and could've run the gamut from automatic on the column 4 door mom sedan, to jacked up muscle car. I don't know how big the area was where Rhonda was killed, but if it was near a large town, yeah they could've gotten away with it.

[cocytus]

I agree. They were. But a Chevelle is more likely to "blend in" than a trans am. But both were extremely popular and common cars back then.

I grew up then too, and I was a muscle car enthusiast, and owned several. Admittedly, they were Camaros, but that didn't mean I didn't know a lot about Chevelles and Trans Ams and have friends with them. Depending on the model, and it's cost they could've been rather plain, or very flashy. If this was a larger area, or a car from out of town, I could see them using a Trans Am and not getting caught. And especially a Chevelle. Those things were a dime a dozen in those days, and could've run the gamut from automatic on the column 4 door mom sedan, to jacked up muscle car. I don't know how big the area was where Rhonda was killed, but if it was near a large town, yeah they could've gotten away with it.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I've been car enthusiast since I was kid. My preference became foreign w/ the exception of Mopar products. I used to watch cars all of the time (and still do to a lesser extent) and I know that when I was a kid, a Trans Am or a tricked out Chevelle would have caught my eye. And I'm sure it would caught the eye of drivers in the area of the shooting.

Here are links to the production numbers of Chevelles and Trans Am's

Chevelles - http://www.ajgeneral.com/chevelle_production_numbers/

Trans Am - http://www.thepontiactransampage.com/production.html

[Killarney Rose]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

[mattc]

The more I think about it, the more I'm willing to believe that it could have been a random attack. Having lived in rural North Carolina, one of the things teens and young adults do is drive around at night (there's not a lot going on obviously).

While a targeted hit is a possibility, I think we'd be overlooking something important if we didn't at least consider that this was a stupid prank gone terribly wrong. Yes Rhonda asked her mom about married men, and she seemed to act strangely in the weeks leading up to the murder, but it is possible that that was a coincedence. How many times do we try to connect something like this, and then when the murder gets solved we realize it was random and had nothing to do with the police' theory?

I feel that if it was a hit by a married man, in a small town like that, the police would be able to narrow the pool of suspects down enough to at least have a few suspects. It appears that, even to this day, the police have no one. That makes me think it might be random.

[DarkDante]

I feel that if it was a hit by a married man, in a small town like that, the police would be able to narrow the pool of suspects down enough to at least have a few suspects. It appears that, even to this day, the police have no one. That makes me think it might be random.

They may have. From the things I've read on this case there are file cabinets full of information on this case and I've always been of the feeling that the authorities may have a suspect in this case but don't have enough evidence to file charges.

[MegtheEgg86]

They may have. From the things I've read on this case there are file cabinets full of information on this case and I've always been of the feeling that the authorities may have a suspect in this case but don't have enough evidence to file charges.

I tend to think that may be precisely what is going on here.

[TheCars1986]

There's really only one of two things IMHO that could have happened to Rhonda.

1. As mattc stated in a previous post, this very well could have been a prank gone horribly wrong. The two young men seen in the car underneath the overpass could have been two adolescents (possibly under the influence), who just so happened to "target" the first car that took the ramp they were parked by which just so happened to be Rhonda. The biggest piece of evidence supporting an accidental shooting is the fact that she was killed by a bullet that entered her trunk, which then passed through the car and hit her heart. If someone honestly wanted her dead, why were there no more bullet wounds in Rhonda, and why was her body out of the car? We have the 2nd eyewitness who says he saw a blue car speeding out of the area (with one male driving) and a few yards up the road he ran into Rhonda's car and actually saw Rhonda slumped over the steering wheel with another man leaning up against her open car door. This man seen by her car almost certainlty was not a passerby or a good samaritan simply because he would have attempted to flag the motorist down, went to call for help, or stayed until the authorities showed up. This also is a strong indicator that this may have been an accident. It's quite possible that these two young men were out to scare Rhonda (God only knows why) by shooting at her car, or in the air, but the triggerman accidentally hit her. Then when her car careened off of the road they realized something was horribly wrong. One felt bad enough to go over to Rhonda to check on her, while the other, in a panic, decided to flee. The other man could have removed Rhonda from her car in an attempt to resuscitate her, and when he realized there was no hope he also began to panic and fled.

2. The other possible scenario is that she was being hit on by a married man at the company she worked at, and actually entertained the idea of having an affair with him. Only after her mother scorned her for even thinking of such a thing did she realize what a mistake it was, and probably backed off. After she shot down his advances, this probably would have angered the married man, which could have ultimately led to a sexual assault or rape. He probably threatened to kill her if she told anyone what happened, and this would account for her strange behavior (telling her father she had something to tell him but was afraid to, her taking showers in the middle of the night, her insomnia, etc.). Perhaps she ran into this man at the Christmas party and finally got enough courage to tell him she was going to expose what had happened between them and he followed her home and killed her. The bullet through the trunk really wouldn't make any sense here, because if Rhonda was killed by this married man, he almost certainly would have wanted to make sure she was dead. There were no other wounds found on Rhonda, and that's almost impossible in a crime of passion type killing. However, her odd behavior (and the fact that she was afraid to drive around without her father) seem to indicate that something frightened Rhonda. I honestly can't make up my mind between either scenario.

On a side note, does anyone else feel horrible for Rhonda's parents? The guilt they must feel knowing that Rhonda was trying to reach out to them (albeit not necessarily in any radical manner), and they were never able to find out just what she was trying to tell them. I feel really bad for them.

[WishfulDreamer]

My theory is based on the behavior of Rhonda before the attack. The constant showering and fearful behavior makes me feel that she was probably being stalked. As for whether this was the married man or not, it's anyone's guess. She could have been asking for a friend, or the married man could be another individual. Perhaps someone wanted a relationship with her and was following her. Perhaps she'd had an affair or brief relationship with this person and felt dirty as a result or he could have accosted or even assaulted her before the attack and that's why she felt dirty and wanted to shower all the time in the middle of the night. LE says her behavior was common in women who have been sexually abused. I think that this stalker was chasing her down the highway and when she refused to pull over or acknowledge him, he fired a warning shot from behind. Perhaps he meant to shatter her back window and scare her into pulling off to the side of the road. When her car drifted after she was hit, this person pulled over and was horrified that he'd hit her. Maybe he thought he could revive her or that she wasn't dead initially and that's why he pulled her out of the car to a few feet away. When he realized the wound was fatal, that's when he fled. That's what I think probably happened and of course I could be totally wrong. I don't think it was a prank and I don't think the person who fired the shot was trying to actually hit her; I think it was done to frighten her and that's why they pulled her out of the car.

I also feel horrible for her parents, especially since she had come close (seemingly) to confessing what was bothering her. I really hope after nearly thirty years that case can still be solved.

[bugnpinky]

My theory is based on the behavior of Rhonda before the attack. The constant showering and fearful behavior makes me feel that she was probably being stalked. As for whether this was the married man or not, it's anyone's guess. She could have been asking for a friend, or the married man could be another individual. Perhaps someone wanted a relationship with her and was following her. Perhaps she'd had an affair or brief relationship with this person and felt dirty as a result or he could have accosted or even assaulted her before the attack and that's why she felt dirty and wanted to shower all the time in the middle of the night. LE says her behavior was common in women who have been sexually abused. I think that this stalker was chasing her down the highway and when she refused to pull over or acknowledge him, he fired a warning shot from behind. Perhaps he meant to shatter her back window and scare her into pulling off to the side of the road. When her car drifted after she was hit, this person pulled over and was horrified that he'd hit her. Maybe he thought he could revive her or that she wasn't dead initially and that's why he pulled her out of the car to a few feet away. When he realized the wound was fatal, that's when he fled. That's what I think probably happened and of course I could be totally wrong. I don't think it was a prank and I don't think the person who fired the shot was trying to actually hit her; I think it was done to frighten her and that's why they pulled her out of the car.

I also feel horrible for her parents, especially since she had come close (seemingly) to confessing what was bothering her. I really hope after nearly thirty years that case can still be solved.
I've always felt she was way in over her head with something. THe behavior and the questions can't be ignored. There's several lines of thought running through my head, and obviously I could be reading wayyy too much into this. She dosn't seem happy....it's more like she's ashamed of it. She feels dirty and doesn't feel it's right, so she does her shower routine to try and clean herself of any remaining scents or traces of him. It seems like she could have been talked into or coerced into it. When you're blissfully in love (even if you're having an affair and know it isn't right) you often try to rationalize it, everything's great blah blah. She wasn't. It was kept secret, and it seems like (to me) there's more to it then a simple affair. Perhaps there were threats to keep going with it. Granted this theory only seems to work if it was a supervisor or higher-up at her work place and he was offering a promotion or something similar if she did it. There's many women, young and old but young especially, that are easy to emotionally manipulate.

It does seem like he was trying to scare her initially, not kill her, and it was random weird chance that it happened to be a fatal shot. It does seem like he was concerned about maybe helping her, but he saw that she was on her way out and figured nothing could be done so it was better to beat it out of there. No need for a "Kill shot," because it would have been unnecessary. SOmeone colder and/or not closely involved could have done it but this person didn't.

I don't put too much stock in the witness's hypnosis remembrances of other cars personally. Hypnosis is a tricky thing and it's definitely not foolproof and I believe it's easy for the mind to remember things that happened, but not in the night in question. Obviously this is just my gut hypotheses and nothing more so I could be off track or whatever.

[TheCars1986]

Has it ever been determined whether or not the sniper/murderer was stationary when he fired at Rhonda? This is where my problem lies with the murder/scaring her theory. If the killer was stationary, how did he 1. know which road Rhonda would be driving down and 2. know for sure he'd be able to spot her car in the dark? In the UM reenactment the road did not appear to be well lit, and in the dark it's very hard to determine the make and model of a car approaching (especially with the headlights on). And if the killer was driving there would almost have to be two people involved. I can imagine it being almost impossible for someone to drive a car while firing a high powered rifle. I doubt this person was a dead on marksman, as evident by where the bullet hit her car. And if the killer was intent on scaring Rhonda, couldn't he have picked a more discrete way to taunt her (like mailing her letters like in the Cindy James case, shooting at her car when it was parked, etc.)?

I still tend to lean more towards the prank-gone-wrong theory, since I think there had to have been two people involved. Also, after all of these years LE hasn't been able to come up with a suspect or POI in this case, and I find that if Rhonda was being stalked, or did have an affair with someone, this would have been brought out by now. People talk, and if she was having an affair with a married man I'd imagine she would have told at least one of her friends. Plus there were two witnesses who both described the same type of car, one of which saw two men in that car before Rhonda's murder. The other witness saw the car speeding away and saw a man standing out by Rhonda's car. It's pretty clear to me that this man was her murderer. A "passerby" would have went to the authorities with what he stumbled upon. They have fingerprints (most likely left by the man seen by the 2nd witness) so hopefully it's only a matter of time before he's identified.

[MegtheEgg86]

Has it ever been determined whether or not the sniper/murderer was stationary when he fired at Rhonda? This is where my problem lies with the murder/scaring her theory. If the killer was stationary, how did he 1. know which road Rhonda would be driving down and 2. know for sure he'd be able to spot her car in the dark?

Rhonda worked in, and attended the company Christmas party in Hickory, NC, which is a few miles east of Valdese. She lived within half a mile of where she was killed, and that is literally right off an entrance/exit ramp to I-40. I mean, mere feet. I think it's a safe assumption to make that she'd be taking the interstate back to Valdese from the Christmas party in Hickory instead of driving on state highways and local roads to get home, as her home wasn't even a mile away from the westbound exit ramp, and it was probably a much shorter drive that way. As well, she may have been followed in the weeks leading up to her death. Perhaps she was not in the habit of altering her daily routine, and that would include the drive from Hickory to Valdese.

If one sits either on or under the I-40 bridge, there is a very clear view of the rather long exit ramp onto Mineral Springs Mountain Road. You'd have close to around fifteen seconds to spot and identify a vehicle just on the ramp alone, and by the time it reached the stop sign, you'd have even more time to make a positive identification.

[TheCars1986]

If one sits either on or under the I-40 bridge, there is a very clear view of the rather long exit ramp onto Mineral Springs Mountain Road. You'd have close to around fifteen seconds to spot and identify a vehicle just on the ramp alone, and by the time it reached the stop sign, you'd have even more time to make a positive identification.

I'm assuming the first witness who saw the two men in the car sitting under the route 40 ramp were her killers then. That would make the most sense.