FREDERICK, Md. — A New Jersey truck driver has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the second-degree murder of his girlfriend, whose body was discovered inside the cab of his tractor-trailer at a Costco distribution center in 2023.

Matthew Sidney Watley, 48, of Sicklerville, N.J., pleaded guilty on October 21 in Frederick County Circuit Court to killing 46-year-old Candice Thompson, also of Sicklerville. A Frederick County judge handed down the maximum sentence on Thursday.

The case began on the night of September 24, 2023, when deputies responded to the Costco Depot near Monrovia after security reported a truck driver yelling, striking his vehicle, and damaging the interior, according to the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Security staff said Watley had punched out his windshield, disengaged the trailer from the cab, and dragged it several feet. When deputies arrived, Watley refused commands and continued moving the truck despite stop sticks being deployed. Officers ultimately deflated the tires to stop the vehicle.

When Watley was removed from the cab, deputies noticed blood on his clothing and body. A search of the truck revealed Thompson lying face down on the floor of the cab with multiple stab wounds. Medical examiners later determined she died of blunt and sharp force trauma.

Detectives learned the pair were in a long-term relationship marked by prior domestic violence incidents.

Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith called the killing a devastating example of escalating intimate partner violence within the trucking workforce.
“What a tragic loss of life,” he said. “These violent offenders need to be treated harshly at the outset before they go on to take the life of their intimate partner.”

In a powerful courtroom statement, Thompson’s mother said:
“I don’t want to live after what this monster did to my daughter; he destroyed my family.”

Watley will serve his sentence in the Maryland Division of Corrections.

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