Suspect took ‘specific' actions before fatal attack on country singer's mom, former FBI agent says
Virginia authorities said a man killed 62-year-old Holly Hatcher, a former teacher, around midnight on Aug. 3 at home in Rockingham County during a home invasion. Michael Hatcher, 65, shot and killed the intruder, who was identified by officials as 41-year-old Kevin Moses Walker.
The couple's son, 31-year-old Spencer Hatcher, is an up-and-coming country singer who announced he is canceling several of his upcoming shows following his mother's death.
Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said Walker had no known criminal history and is from Pikesville, Maryland, which is about a three-hour drive from the Hatcher's residence. The sheriff said that the home invasion was random and "highly unusual," adding that Walker had brought a "large knife" into the home.
Former FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital he questions whether the home invasion and subsequent stabbing was random.
"He drove specifically to where a place, a location was at, where there was a tourist location, where there were these caverns. He took a tour of the cavern. He reserved a camping spot. He went to Walmart and bought a sleeping bag and a knife," Gilliam said. "Those are very specific things … not random actions."
"So when I look at that, I know that part of what happened is not random," Gilliam added.
Gilliam said Walker's behavior before the crash appeared to be normal but then became "psychotic and random."
"We know that he did all these actions with structured behavior up until the point of a crash. And then his behavior became psychotic and random," he said. "So, I think it's too early, and there's not enough evidence from what I can see that it's just to be determined to be a random attack."
Gilliam also said detectives should determine if the two crossed paths at all in the days leading up to the attack.
"They need to look at what the victims do and if they had any encounters with this guy earlier in the day, because also, if his typical way he operates, if he is a killer for instance, is to go somewhere, wander around in polite manner and then pick some victims and then eventually go get them. They could have met throughout that day," he said.
Former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News Digital that while "this is one of the saddest cases that you could come across," detectives may never find a motive.
"I don't think we're going to ever find out the motive in this case, in light of the fact that Kevin Moses Walker is dead," Williams said. "This certainly is a case that will have to be studied by law enforcement for some time to come, because this man, Kevin Moses Walker, was not on anybody's radar screen."
Spencer Hatcher said in an Instagram post that his planned performances at the VOA Country Music Fest in Ohio and the Rockingham County Fair in Harrisonburg, Virginia, have been canceled.
"I hope to make these dates up to my fans in the future," Spencer Hatcher wrote. "I appreciated everyone that has lent their support to me and my loved ones."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
28 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump's Justice Department is investigating whether DC police officials falsified crime data
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether police officials in Washington, D.C., have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the probe who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss an open investigation. The investigation comes amid an escalating — and political — showdown between the Trump administration and the city over control of the police department. It wasn't immediately clear what federal laws could have been violated by the possible manipulation of crime data. The mayor's office declined to comment on the matter. The New York Times was first to report on the investigation. Earlier this year, a Metropolitan Police Department commander suspected of manipulating crime data was placed on paid administrative leave, NBC Washington reported. ___ Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
Washington Post
28 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump's Justice Department is investigating whether DC police officials falsified crime data
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether police officials in Washington, D.C., have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the probe who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss an open investigation. The investigation comes amid an escalating — and political — showdown between the Trump administration and the city over control of the police department. It wasn't immediately clear what federal laws could have been violated by the possible manipulation of crime data. The mayor's office declined to comment on the matter. The New York Times was first to report on the investigation. Earlier this year, a Metropolitan Police Department commander suspected of manipulating crime data was placed on paid administrative leave, NBC Washington reported . ___ Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration to seek federal charges against people snared in DC crackdown, sources say
By Sarah N. Lynch and Ned Parker WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration this week ordered federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., to be more aggressive in pursuing criminal cases against people arrested as part of a crackdown in the nation's capital, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move marks an escalation of Trump's push against what he has described as a wave of crime and homelessness in Washington, in which the Republican president has already called up hundreds of National Guard troops and temporarily taken over the Democratic-led city's police department. The head of the criminal division of the Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney's office, Jonathan Hornok, on Monday told prosecutors to charge as many federal cases as possible against people arrested in the sweeps, a move that could both strain the court system and raise the stakes for criminal defendants because convictions for federal crimes can carry weighty sentences, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal department matters. While many of the U.S. federal prosecutors in that office focus on higher-level offenses such as terrorism and fraud, the Washington office plays a dual role in prosecuting both federal and local crimes. In a post on X on Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that since Trump's takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department began, there have been 465 arrests made for a variety of offenses, including homicide, narcotics, and firearm offenses. It was not clear how many of these could be eligible for federal charges. "In line with President Trump's directive to make D.C. safe, U.S. Attorney (Jeanine) Pirro has made it clear that the old way of doing things is unacceptable. She directed her staff to charge the highest crime that is supported by the law and the evidence," a spokesperson for Pirro's office said on Tuesday. Dozens of prosecutors have voluntarily left the Washington U.S. Attorney's office since Trump took office in January, while others have been fired. The orders could place additional stress on federal law enforcement agents including those from the FBI who are already stretched thin because they have been ordered to participate in nightly rotational shifts to patrol the capital's streets. That could leave them less time and resources to help do the follow-up investigations that will be required to support criminal charges, such as interviewing witnesses, canvassing for CCTV footage or following up to obtain DNA evidence, which is often required to win a conviction in D.C. for unlawful firearm possession cases. The U.S. Attorney's office is planning to bring in about 20 people from the Department of Defense on Monday to serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys to help prosecute the misdemeanor cases, a spokesperson confirmed.
