Posted on 07/01/2008 7:51:43 PM PDT by Coleus
Army deserters told fellow soldier they committed the crime, court papers say.
Two U.S. Army deserters were arrested Friday and charged with killing the Rev. Mark McCalla, a former Franklin pastor. First-degree murder charges were filed against Stephen C. Wilson, 19, of Cincinnati, and Daniel R. Smith, 22, of Newport News, Va. The men were captured after 9 p.m. Friday in downtown Columbus, according to Sgt. Dana Norman of the Columbus Police Dept. homicide bureau.
The men told a fellow soldier they had shot and killed McCalla, according to criminal complaints filed in Wayne County, W.Va., magistrate court. Wilson and Smith were stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., but left in recent months. They were considered armed and dangerous, according to Wayne County Sheriff David Pennington and Sgt. Travis Williamson. A Fort Drum spokesman said that5 at one time the men belong to base's 10th Mountain Division, a unit that has served time in Iraq.
A state forestry worker found McCall's body June 19 at the Beech Fork Wildlife Management Area shooting range. McCalla died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Investigators said he was shot at close range and his body dragged about 20 yards. Two guns and a wallet, belonging to McCalla, were missing from the rifle range June 19, leading investigators to believe robbery motivated the killing.
Police executed a search warrant Thursday at 32 Idle Acres where the fugitives had been staying with a fellow soldier. Police were acting on tips, including information that a man wearing a mohawk haircut was in the area. Investigators confiscated a car with New York license, about 12 firearms and photographs of the fugitives in possession of weapons, according to Wayne and Cabell County sheriff offices. Police believe Wilson was wearing a mohawk at the time of the shooting.
Police said at least one of McCalla's guns was still missing Friday and they have not yet recovered the weapon used in the killing. Police told a Columbus reporter that they suspect the gunman fired the fatal shot with one of McCalla's guns. Confiscated weapons included six long-barrel firearms, two shotguns and four handguns. McCalla served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Franklin from June 1996 to March 2002.
He also was a member of the Franklin Housing Authority from April 1999 to February 2002. Prior to his post in Franklin, he served as pastor at a church in Corry and in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. He was ordained in July 1994.
Cretems. We had met Rev. McCalla. Such a senseless crime.
Tragic loss!
Based on all of your latest posts, you seem to be obsessed with crimes either committed by or against Christian pastors. Why?
When Smith was asked during the taped interview if he was sorry he laughed and said “I killed a @&# preacher, I feel like I spit in the face of God.”-———WSAZ
Article on the guy the two perps sold the guns to at the range:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/x238620878/Black-frequent-visitor-to-shooting-range
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