In a surprising twist, car theft suspect is linked to 2 murders, NC sheriff says
A man sitting in jail on a car theft charge has been linked to the killings of a couple found dead in their burned home, according to investigators in western North Carolina.
Christopher Shane Turner, 42, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, has been charged with two felony counts of murder and one felony count of arson, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday, June 9.
The victims have been identified as Robert Louis Peck, 80 and Wendy Susan Peck, 80. Their bodies were found May 24 at a burned home on West Fork Creek Road in Saluda, and autopsies confirmed both died by homicide, the sheriff’s office says.
Turner is being held in the Polk County Detention Center without bond.
Specifics of how he was linked to the homicides have not been released.
Capt. Caleb Edwards of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office says Turner came to the attention of the investigators on May 31 when someone called 911 about the theft of a Toyota Highlander.
“A short time later, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office assisted in apprehending Christopher Shane Turner in that motor vehicle,” Edwards said at news conference.
“Turner was given a $40,000 bond based on (car theft) charges and transported to the Polk County Detention Center. On June 2, an addition charge was filed on Christopher Shane Turner for the larceny of a firearm, where he received an additional $20,000 bond. Upon further investigation, detectives ... were able to link the homicides of Robert and Wendy Peck to Christopher Shane Turner.”
The Toyota Highlander and the .22 caliber pistol reported as stolen did not belong to the Pecks, according to court documents.
An obituary for Robert Louis Peck and Wendy Susan Peck notes they had three children and five grand children. The two worked with the nonprofit Saluda Community Table and Robert tutored children at a local school and volunteered at the Western North Carolina Air Museum, the obituary reports.
Saluda is about a 95-mile drive west from uptown Charlotte.