Judge rules Guilford County murder case against Ricky Lam not capital

A Guilford County judge has removed the death penalty from the murder case against Ricky Lam, a decision that narrows the case in practical terms even though the first-degree murder charge remains in place. With the case no longer proceeding as capital in Guilford County, prosecutors lose the option of seeking execution there, shifting the case toward a non-capital trial path that typically means less costly jury selection, fewer pretrial complications and different plea pressure on both sides.

That matters in a county where a capital prosecution can stretch on for years and require more time, more experts and more courtroom resources. Lam still faces serious charges in Guilford County, including first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and failure to report a death. But the ruling means the local case will move forward without death-penalty exposure, leaving life imprisonment as the most severe outcome available in that county case.

The decision comes in the death of Amber Schimmelpfenning, a 36-year-old mother of three who was reported missing in September 2025. Detectives were told on Sept. 19, 2025, that Schimmelpfenning’s missing Chevrolet Avalanche was at a home in the 4800 block of Oakdale Drive in Winston-Salem. Investigators found the vehicle there, along with remains, and parts of the body had been dismembered. The rest of Schimmelpfenning’s remains were later found in a Guilford County lake.

Lam’s legal exposure is different in Davidson County, where he also faces a separate capital murder case tied to the death of Nancy Bunly. Bunly was last seen on Sept. 22, 2024, and reported missing the next day. In that case, a Davidson County judge ruled the prosecution could proceed as capital, keeping the death penalty on the table there. Lam was later indicted in Davidson County for first-degree murder and concealing a body.

Bunly and Lam had a child together, and Bunly’s family has pressed for answers about what happened and where her remains are. The case has also reached into Lam’s family circle, with Jonathan Lam, Vinchen Lam and Van Ly Lam facing felony charges connected to the Bunly investigation.

For Guilford County, the ruling changes the stakes immediately. The murder case continues, but the county no longer has to prepare for a capital trial in the Schimmelpfenning case, and the pressure on any future plea talks now comes from a non-capital murder prosecution instead of a death-penalty case.