A man named a “person of interest” in the unsolved murder of a North Richland Hills woman was killed late Sunday, police said.

Marianne Wilkinson, 68, was shot multiple times after she answered a knock at her front door Dec. 9, 2007.

In August, police named Willie Boley, 36, of the Palestine area, as a person of interest in Wilkinson’s murder but he was never arrested or charged in the case.

Boley was killed Sunday night in Oklahoma City an apparent dispute with his girlfriend, police said. She claimed he had been beating her and that she shot him in self-defense.

Police had previously named a neighbor of Wilkinson as another person of interest in the case and speculated Wilkinson was killed by mistake. The man lived exactly one block away and was undergoing a nasty divorce, according to previous reports.

On Monday, Marianne Wilkinson’s son Mike said he wanted to wait to meet with investigators before commenting on Boley’s death.

But this summer, when police named Boley a person of interest, Mike Wilkinson said he was hopeful the case would be solved.

"The fact they've been as persistent as they have has been a huge blessing and help to us, to believe that whoever is responsible will be caught," Wilkinson said.