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| Why Gonzalez fled to county is not known |
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
A man charged in the deaths of four people in Mt. Airy, N.C., is being held in a North Carolina jail, but questions remain on why he fled to Henry County.
“We, too, are suspicious,” said Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry. “We have not been able to establish a link or reason why” Marcos Chavez Gonzalez of 146 S. Ridge Road, Mount Airy, N.C., fled to the Collinsville area late Sunday after four men were shot to death in the parking lot of a TV shop in Mt. Airy.
Gonzalez was arrested at the Super 8 motel in Henry County at 3:50 a.m. Monday. He waived extradition later that morning, and North Carolina officials came to the Henry County Jail that afternoon to pick him up and return him to Mt. Airy, according to Perry.
Gonzales’ presence in Henry County “may have been innocent,” Perry said, speculating that it could have just been a stop on his route out of Mt. Airy. “It was late” and he may have been looking for a place to spend the night. “It may have been that innocent,” the sheriff said.
However, “if it was not an innocent path” to Collinsville, “that is something we need to look into further,” Perry said, adding police will continue exploring possible links to Henry County.
One thing is certain: Gonzales’ presence here “does leave us with suspicion as to why,” Perry said.
Local authorities learned Gonzales might have been in Henry County after receiving an anonymous tip at 1:45 a.m. with “relevant information (that) put us on the right path” to locating Gonzales, who was found in a second floor room at the Super 8.
The sheriff declined to elaborate other than to say “as is the case in a lot of homicides, a good, decent person knows what happened” and wants to ensure justice is served, Perry said.
Gonzales got a ride to the motel and was staying there under an assumed name after another person rented the room, police have said.
Perry referred questions about that individual to authorities in North Carolina.
Local authorities took Gonzales into custody after Lt. Kimmy Nester negotiated with him to surrender, police said.
A translator was not needed during those negotiations, Perry said. Gonzalez spoke fluent English, he added.
Mt. Airy Police Capt. Alan Freeman did not return a call for comment Tuesday. |
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