NewsMan arrested, charged with murder in brutal Michigan home invasion

Man arrested, charged with murder in brutal Michigan home invasion

1 of 2 | Authorities in Michigan said they have detained one of two suspects who are accused of killing a 72-year-old man during a home invasion last week. Screen capture courtesy of Oakland County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook

Oct. 14 (UPI) — An arrest has been made in connection with Friday’s brutal murder of a septuagenarian, who authorities say was killed by two men who gained entrance to his home in the wealthy Michigan neighborhood of Rochester Hills by posing as utility workers.

Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was arrested and is in police custody in Shreveport, La., Michigan’s Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday in a statement.

He was arrested Saturday around 4 p.m. by deputies of the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana, who spotted a vehicle matching the description of one connected to the Michigan home invasion heading southbound on Interstate 49 from Arkansas.

The suspect, who was detained following a traffic stop without incident, has been charged with murder and other offenses, the sheriff’s office said in a statement, adding that they are seeking his extradition from Louisiana.

According to the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hernandez was booked on multiple warrants from Ohio for armed robbery on top of the homicide warrant from Oakland County.

Michigan authorities accuse Hernandez of being one of two suspects who posed as DTE Energy employees to gain entrance to the home of 72-year-old Hussein Murray last week.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the two suspects had attempted to enter the house in the upscale Rochester Hills neighborhood on Thursday night by claiming there was a gas leak but were denied entrance.

The two suspects returned to the home Friday and were allowed in. Murray accompanied them into the basement, where they claimed they needed to check for the leak.

Murray’s wife, who is also 72, called the police shortly before noon, and deputies were dispatched to the home, where they found the woman with her hands bound with duct tape.

According to the statement, she told police that her husband, who owned a Wayne County business, had been kidnapped, but his body was later found in the basement by deputies during a search of the house.

“Because of the gruesome nature of the injuries, it was not immediately clear if he had been shot or bludgeoned to death,” the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.

The unidentified woman was briefly hospitalized, authorities said.

The sheriff’s office had released video taken of the suspected home invaders as they asked the public for help in identifying the men. The sheriff’s office accuses Hernandez of being the man seen in footage, wearing a bright fluorescent construction worker’s vest and a face mask, while holding a clipboard.

In the 9-second video clip, the suspect is heard speaking directly to home owners via the doorbell Ring camera.

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