Deputies: Couple Killed While Trying To Sell Car

SALISBURY, N.C.,None — Deputies arrested a Charlotte man in connection with the deaths of a Conover couple near Salisbury on Wednesday.

VIDEO: Deputies: Couple Killed While Trying To Sell Car

Fredrick Hedgepeth, 25, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He is also charged with felony conspiracy, robbery with a dangerous weapon and larceny of a motor vehicle.

Rowan County deputies said they found 72-year-old Jerry Bullin and 70-year-old Jo Anne Bullin dead inside Ingram MotorSports on Auction Drive around 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Deputies said Hedgepeth is an employee at Ingram MotorSports, which is located near the Webb Road exit of Interstate 85.

Investigators said the couple had traveled to Salisbury from Conover with plans to meet Hedgepeth and sell him a 2009 Honda Accord. Once there, Jo Anne Bullin made at least one call to her daughter to tell her where they were and said something didn't seem right, investigators said.

After that call, investigators said the couple's daughter made several attempts to contact her parents but couldn't reach them. She then called 911 and told a dispatcher where her parents were. When deputies arrived at the business, they said they saw the Bullins' bodies through a window. They had to force their way in through a locked fence.

The couple's daughter told deputies they drove to the area to meet someone about selling their car. Deputies said that information led them to Hedgepeth.

Sheriff Kevin Auten said Hedgepeth reported a robbery at the business last week. He came to Ingram MotorSports Wednesday evening to talk to investigators voluntarily, Auten said.

After interviewing him and collecting evidence from the crime scene, police arrested and charged Hedgepeth.

The Honda Accord that the Bullins had intended to sell was found at Hedgepeth's girlfriend's home, police said.

Hedgepeth was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under no bond.

The investigation is ongoing. Sheriff's deputies from Catawba and Rowan counties searched the Bullins' home at the Rock Barn Golf and Spa Thursday, seizing a computer and other evidence. Deputies said they are looking into whether the couple advertised the car they were selling online.

VIDEO: Deputies Search Couple's Home For Evidence

"You need to check out the people you're dealing with make sure they're legitimate," Catawba County Maj. Coy Reid said. "That your safety is not at risk when you go out to make the transaction."

The couple was well-known in their community. Gavin Arsenault, the vice president of Rock Barn, said the news of their deaths shocked him.

"Disbelief," he said. "[I] just thought someone had told me the wrong story about the wrong situation."

The couple had lived in Catawba County for decades.

"Tragedy, not only just for the community here but for this county and for our residents here who are grieving today," Arsenault said. "These are good friends of theirs. A senseless act."

Deputies ask that anyone with additional information about the case call the Rowan County Sheriff's Office at 704-216-8687.

WSOC