The terms “alpha male” and “beta male” have become charged phrases with the prominence of the “pick up artist” movement and the effects it has had on social relations between men and women. “Alpha males” are the men who are socially successful and enjoy romantic relationship as well as casual sex, while “beta males” are the “losers” who may be economically well (or not) but lack social and romantic success. This has resulted in the term “incel,” or “involuntarily celibate”, a label used to describe many of these men.
Some men have taken such labeling, especially as a “beta” or “incel,” as a serious insult and have resorted to violence. One such man in Florida believed that he was no longer the “alpha male” in his friend group, and so to prove he was an “alpha,” he went out and had sex for the first time, and after he went to his friend’s house and murdered his friend’s mother according to a report:
The man accused of killing an elderly woman inside her Naples home in January called the woman’s son and admitted to the crime, according to recently filed Collier County court documents.
Thomas Evans, 35, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Frances Axley, 78, who was found inside her home in the 1300 block of Chesapeake Avenue on New Year’s Day, according to the Naples Police Department.
Evans was taken into custody Jan. 4 at a Pilot Travel Center in Georgia and was extradited to Collier County on Sunday. He is being held without bond at the Naples Jail Center.
Evans lived in Fort Myers and met Frances Axley’s son at a job site where the two men worked about three to four weeks before her killing, according to an affidavit used to secure Evans’ arrest.
The name of Frances Axley’s son is redacted in the affidavit; however, Lt. Matthew Fletcher, a spokesman for the Naples Police Department, confirmed Ehren Axley is the son who worked with Evans.
Ehren Axley and two other people, whose names were redacted, were together at the WoodSpring Suites on Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers when one of them received a phone call from Evans, according to the court document.
All three told a detective that during the speakerphone conversation, Evans said he was “not a virgin anymore” and had just killed Ehren Axley’s mom, according to the affidavit.
After meeting Evans at the job site, Ehren Axley said he found he had common interests with him. Ehren Axley told Evans he lived with his mother, but he never brought Evans to the home, according to the court document.
When asked why Evans might have wanted to kill his mother, Ehren Axley said it was possible Evans was upset at him for appearing to take over their friend group and becoming the “alpha male” of the group, according to the affidavit for criminal offense.
While conducting a welfare check around noon on Jan. 1, Naples police officers found the gate surrounding Frances Axley’s home and her front door unlocked.
Once inside, officers found Frances Axley dead on the ground in front of a blue recliner surrounded by a large amount of blood and covered with linens, according to the court document.
Officers also discovered bloody footprints going up the stairs and in the kitchen of Frances Axley’s home, according to the court document.
Her death was determined to be a homicide caused by “sharp force injury,” according to the Naples Police Department.
While at the home processing the crime scene, a detective heard a telephone message being left by a credit card company stating Frances Axley’s Visa card was being used fraudulently, according to the court document.
Surveillance footage from a gas station in Bushnell, Florida, showed Evans using Frances Axley’s credit card. Detectives also learned Evans tried to use multiple credit cards belonging to Frances Axley on Jan. 2 in Gainesville, according to the court document.
Frances Axley worked as a guidance counselor at several schools in Illinois before retiring, moving to Florida and later working as a guidance counselor in Collier County at Calusa Park Elementary.
About a month before she was killed, Frances Axley invited her eldest son, Ehren Axley, to come live with her in Naples, her youngest son, Ryan Axley, said.
Ryan Axley said it has been years since he has talked with Ehren Axley, who could not be reached for comment for this story.
A warrant for Evans’ arrest was issued out of Collier County on Jan. 2 for the murder charge related to Frances Axley’s death. He was held at the Peach County Jail in Fort Valley, Georgia, before his extradition Sunday.
Evans is set to be arraigned in front of Collier Circuit Judge Joseph Foster on March 25. (source, source)