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Police: Fains were shot to death
Son is charged with second-degree murder
Zachary Bailey
Friday, July 20, 2012
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The couple found inside a home in the Villa Heights community Wednesday both had been shot to death, according to Henry County Sheriff’s Lt. Eric Winn.
Kathy Bailey Fain, 49, died from a single gunshot wound to the head and her husband, Charles Darryl Fain, 52, died from multiple gunshot wounds, Winn said of a preliminary update from the Medical Examiner’s Office in Roanoke.
The two were found inside their home at 25 Beaver Road, Martinsville.
Kathy Fain’s son, Zachary Kasey Bailey, 19, who also lives at the home, was charged with two counts of second degree murder and other charges in connection with the incident.
Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry said investigators are working to pinpoint the time frame of the shootings. By late afternoon Thursday, he said the shootings were believed to have occurred between Sunday afternoon and early Monday.
“We are still trying to see how narrow we can make that window,” Perry said.
The Fains had lived in the home for eight to 10 years, according to a neighbor who declined to be identified.
According to the neighbor, Charles Fain studied to be a nurse. Kris Landrum, a spokesman at Patrick Henry Community College, said a student with the same name and address earned an associate degree in nursing in the fall of 2006. It could not be determined if he worked at a local health care facility.
The neighbor said Charles and Kathy Fain kept to themselves, but Kathy Fain “kept the roads hot. She’d come home and stay about 10 minutes, and then she’d be gone again.”
The neighbor said the incident is tragic.
Kathy Fain’s sister kept trying to call, but was unable to reach her by telephone, the neighbor said. The sister then “decided to come over,” and the bodies were discovered.
Perry said authorities responded to the scene shortly after a 911 call was received at 12:17 p.m. Wednesday. The bodies were located in different rooms of the home.
Police then asked for the public’s help in finding Kathy Fain’s son, and someone called and let them know where he was, police said.
When authorities went to talk to Bailey, he was at a friend’s house in Bassett, Winn said.
Bailey “came over freely to the sheriff’s office,” Winn said.
His neighbor said he had known Bailey as a youngster.
“We called him ‘Pee Wee’ because he was short,” the neighbor said, and recalled that when he was 8 or 9 years old, Bailey did odd jobs like mowing yards and other yard work to earn money.
Janet Williams, who also lives nearby, said she rarely interacted with the Fains.
“I knew she’d come and go a lot, but I didn’t try to pry,” she said.
Bailey attended Bassett High School, she added.
Neighbor Beatrice Townsend said she rarely talked to the Fains but recalled seeing Charles Fain mowing the yard. He also planted three tomato plants along the fence, she said, adding, “They’re pretty tomato plants.”
Townsend said she did not know anything about their deaths, and she did not see or hear anything during the period when police suspected the Fains were killed.
Bailey, who also was charged with two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of discharging a firearm within an occupied dwelling, is being held without bond in the Henry County Jail.
He also was charged July 15 with a misdemeanor count of public swearing/intoxication in connection with an incident in Henry County, court records show. He was released on his own recognizance, the records showed.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 638-8751 or Crimestoppers at 63-CRIME (632-7463).
The Crimestoppers Program offers rewards up to $1,000 for information related to crime. The amount of any reward is determined by the nature of the crime and the substance of information provided.