Share
Two days before the 16th anniversary of a Jonesville police officer’s slaying, authorities arrested a man in connection with the case.
Scott Vincent Sica, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jonesville Police Sgt. Gregory Keith Martin. Jonesville is in Yadkin County, about 75 miles north of Charlotte.
Sica was arrested Wednesday night in Cape Coral, Fla., and is being held there until he is extradited to North Carolina.
In the early morning of Oct. 5, 1996, Martin was gunned down after stopping a red truck on Interstate 77. He was 30.
Authorities have previously said that the truck was stolen from a dealership in Princeton, W.Va., about 10 miles north of the Virginia border.
After Martin’s shooting, the truck was dumped in Elkin, and a van was stolen from a business there.
That van was found abandoned in a Home Depot parking lot on Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia.
Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a $100,000 reward for information to help solve the case.
In a statement Thursday, Jonesville Police Chief Roger Reece said the 16-year investigation involved Jonesville and Elkin police, as well as the State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.
Reece said authorities obtained information and physical evidence that led to Sica’s arrest. But he said he would not release additional details about that evidence because the investigation is ongoing.
“Sergeant Martin’s murder has haunted this community, this police department and the members of the law enforcement agencies here with me today,” Reece said.
“We must do everything we can for the judicial process to proceed successfully, both for our investigation and for the rights of the accused in this case.”
Police said they plan to honor Martin’s memory on Friday – as they do every year on the anniversary of his death – with a memorial ride by the spot where he was slain.
