Suspect in Charlotte double homicide surrenders to police

A suspect in the killing of a couple in northeast Charlotte surrendered to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police on Tuesday afternoon.

Vurnel Smith Jr., 40, was being interviewed at police headquarters Tuesday evening and will be charged with two counts of murder and one count each of rape, kidnapping, assault on a female and larceny of a vehicle, police said.

Police began searching for Smith after Jacqueline Gordon-White, 65, was found dead in a home and the body of her husband, Rufus Gordon, 69, was discovered in a car trunk on Thursday. Smith was their son-in-law.

The killings occurred July 25, Observer news partner WBTV reported, citing warrants. Police said Gordon-White was killed in a home in the 9000 block of Red Clay Lane and another woman was hurt. When the woman drove to a nearby hospital, police said they found Rufus Gordon’s body in the trunk of her car.

The couple were the parents of the injured woman, CMPD Capt. Christopher Dozier said at a news conference at police headquarters on Tuesday. A police source told WBTV that Smith allegedly held that woman captive over days and was sexually assaulting her, but she managed to get out of the house Thursday morning and drive to the hospital.

Smith contacted CMPD at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, and officers picked him up “at a location he felt comfortable with,” Dozier said.

The female survivor “is physically going to be OK,” he said.

Dozier thanked the community and officials from across the country for help in bringing Smith in. Police have no other suspects in the case, he said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Suspect in Charlotte double homicide surrenders to police."