[cifnmedia] North Carolina Fire Chief's Wife Charged In Murder
- From: Sean & Kimberly Aaron <cifn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: CIFN LIST <cifnmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 21:19:53 -0700 (PDT)
Updated: 04-02-2004 03:23:37 PM
North Carolina Fire Chief's Wife Charged In Murder
HARMONY JOHNSON
Courtesy of The Hedersonville Times News
HORSE SHOE -- The wife of a man found dead near the couple's residence was
charged Thursday morning with her husband's murder, and police suspect a second
person in connection with the crime.
Gail Christine Hutchinson Gash, 50, was charged with first-degree murder a day
after police found her hiding beneath a shed across the street from where her
husband's body was found Saturday.
She is the wife of Etowah-Horse Shoe Fire Chief Donald Larry Gash, whose
remains were found near the couple's home at 383 S. Rugby Road.
Henderson County Sheriff George H. Erwin Jr. declined to comment on whether
more charges will be filed in the case but he said the crime likely was
committed by more than one person.
"We are relentlessly pursuing other evidence," Erwin said. "There is a suspect
out there. ... They know who they are and we know who they are. We will
relentlessly pursue them."
Investigators think that Mr. Gash was killed inside his home but have not found
a murder weapon, he said.
Officers who searched the residence Saturday found Mr. Gash's remains in a
plastic storage container near a barn behind his home, according to a search
warrant filed Monday at the Clerk of Courts Office. Investigators lifted five
finger or hand prints from the container, according to the warrant.
Investigators also found a blood-stained mattress, bloodstains on the back door
and on a wall in the house and a bloodstained sheet, tarp and rope that had
been burned, according to the search warrant.
They seized two computers from the home, which were sent to the Secret Service
office in Charlotte to have the hard drives examined, Erwin said. He did not
say what investigators expected to find on the computers.
Warrant served Thursday
Police issued an arrest warrant for Mrs. Gash late Wednesday night after a
meeting between investigators and members of the district attorney's office,
Erwin said.
"It was a mutual decision to go ahead and charge her," he said.
Erwin said that Mrs. Gash will be placed in the county jail under no bond once
she is released from Pardee Hospital. She was taken to the hospital Wednesday
for treatment of exposure to the elements. Mrs. Gash is listed in fair
condition and likely will remain in the hospital overnight, a hospital
spokeswoman said.
Sheriff's deputies guarded Mrs. Gash's hospital room Wednesday and Thursday,
but she was not under a suicide watch, Erwin said.
Investigators had been searching for Mrs. Gash since she was reported missing
Saturday morning by her son, 31-year-old Donald Edward Gash, who also lived at
the South Rugby Road residence. Investigators found her at about 3 p.m.
Wednesday, shivering in a crawl space beneath a carport at 422 S. Rugby Road,
across the road from her home.
Erwin said that Mrs. Gash was "startled" when police found her but that she
cooperated with rescue workers. Investigators have not questioned Mrs. Gash,
who showed no emotion when officers arrested her, he said.
"She hasn't said a whole lot," Erwin said. "She's been very quiet."
Preliminary autopsy results found that Mr. Gash, 48, died from blunt force
trauma to the head. Investigators also found severed human limbs Monday along
the Blue Ridge Parkway in Buncombe County that preliminary results confirm are
Mr. Gash's. Investigators have recovered all of the man's remains, and a full
autopsy report will be available at a later date.
Second search warrant
Investigators returned to the Gash residence Thursday morning to execute a
second search warrant.
Sheriff's Department Detective Lt. Erik Summey declined to comment on what
items they hoped to find, adding that the case is not closed and that
detectives are still looking into leads.
Thursday afternoon, investigators slowly walked through the pasture surrounding
the Gash's home, using slender metal police batons to push aside tall grass.
Two bundles of carnations lay near the fence at the edge of the property
bordering the road. The family lived on 22 acres that Mr. Gash inherited from
his father, Lantie W. Gash, who died June 23, 1976. The property has an
appraised value of $225,400, according to land deed records.
Clerk of Court Tommy Thompson appointed Hendersonville attorney E.K. Morley to
be the "collector" of Mr. Gash's assets for protection, Morley said Thursday.
"The sheriff has not really turned the premises over to us to take possession;
we would only be taking possession of personal property, not real property in
any event," he said. "When there is a possible jeopardy situation, there is a
provision in the general statues where the court can appoint a person to take
immediate possession of the property of the decedent. Normally, if there was a
will, we would have to follow the instruction of the will, which means giving
the right to serve as executor to whoever is named in the document.
But we haven't found a will, of course, so the Clerk of Court or ex officio
judge of probate has appointed me as collector to take immediate possession of
the personal property of the estate."
Mr. Gash's relatives have the right to make application for letters of
administration, Morley said. This means that if the clerk granted the request,
that person would become administrator of the estate and Morley would be
relieved of his duties as collector, he said.
Morley said he did not know the total worth of all of Gash's assets.
Mr. Gash's wife and his son are listed as potential beneficiaries of his
estate, according to estate files on record at the courthouse. The Gashes'
daughter was not named as a potential beneficiary, according to estate files.
There was no explanation as to why her name was not listed.
Sean A. Aaron (CIFN*1)
Central Illinois Fire Network
cifn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.geocities.com/central_illinois_firenet
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