Posted on 02/14/2020 12:28:57 PM PST by robowombat
Updated: Suspect fatally shot in Virginia Beach was wanted in 1992 killing near Sugarloaf Mountain Montgomery County police confronted man Wednesday during attempt to arrest him
BY DAN SCHERE | Published: 2020-02-13 17:45
Montgomery County police said on Thursday that authorities had fatally shot Hans Huitz, 51, who was a cold case homicide wanted for killing 57-year-old James Essel in 1992 near Sugarloaf Mountain. Essel, police said, owned the Sugarloaf Mountain Market. PHOTO VIA MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE
In Virginia Beach, Va., on Wednesday, Montgomery County police detectives confronted a man wanted in connection with a 1992 killing of a store owner near Sugarloaf Mountain.
The homicide suspect — Hans Huitz, 51 — was in his vehicle near his home on Maitland Drive in Virginia Beach. When he “presented a firearm” as police tried to get him to surrender, officers fired at him, according to a city of Virginia Beach press release. Huitz died.
Huitz was suspected of killing 57-year-old James Essel on March 22, 1992, at Sugarloaf Mountain Market at 23800 Old Hundred Road in Comus, which is near Clarksburg. Authorities believe Huitz stabbed Essel to death during a robbery.
Montgomery County police were members of a U.S. Marshals task force that tried to arrest Huitz, Virginia Beach police said.
Officer Rick Goodale, a Montgomery County police spokesman, said Thursday that he didn’t know how many county police detectives were on the scene Wednesday and which, if any, fired shots.
Police said the Montgomery County detectives were placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure during the investigation of a shooting by a police officer.
Goodale referred all other questions to Virginia Beach police, who are conducting the investigation into Huitz’s death.
Virginia Beach police could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
Police have said Essel, the owner of Sugarloaf Mountain Market, was found dead by a customer, who called 911.
victim-photo-768x1024
James Essel (photo from Montgomery County police)
An autopsy performed the day after the killing found that Essel had 29 stab wounds; a medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, police said.
Police have been trying to track down more information about the killing in the years since.
In 2016, they released new information about the case and asked for the public’s help in solving the cold case. Police said then that they thought Essel was stabbed during a robbery based on evidence at the scene. They also said they thought the killing took place between 5:30 and 6 p.m. that day.
In 2017, police found additional information through DNA analysis and other “investigative techniques.”
That year, Montgomery County said they had sought the service of Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company in Virginia. Parabon specializes in DNA phenotyping, which is using DNA evidence to predict physical appearance and technology.
Using blood the suspect left at the scene, Parabon created a composite image of how the killer might have looked — eye color, skin color, freckling, face shape, according to a 2017 police press release. One image was created at age 25 and another at age 50.
Police said on Thursday that Huitz was identified as a possible suspect at the end of January.
On Monday, Montgomery County detectives, with the help of Virginia Beach police, obtained a warrant for a cheek swab DNA test of Huitz, to compare it to DNA from the blood left at the scene. Police said they obtained Huitz’s DNA sample on Tuesday and it matched with the sample from 1992.
Police said a task force of detectives attached to the U.S. Marshals Service tried to arrest Huitz on Wednesday and charge him with first-degree murder, felony murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Bethesda Beat Managing Editor Andrew Schotz contributed to this story
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@bethesdamagazine.com
Montgomery County said they had sought the service of Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company in Virginia. Parabon specializes in DNA phenotyping, which is using DNA evidence to predict physical appearance and technology.
Using blood the suspect left at the scene, Parabon created a composite image of how the killer might have looked — eye color, skin color, freckling, face shape, according to a 2017 police press release. One image was created at age 25 and another at age 50.
A rare good news story heading into the weekend.
Justice came late, but it did come at last. I’ll take it.
Yup. Working a cold case
He was 23 at the time of the crime. I wonder how good of life he led for 28 years. If he had been convicted back then he might have been out by now.
It is amazing they can solve these cases and can’t convict those who committed the majority of murderers in Chicago during the last year or FBI agents lying about the last election.
Another interesting case - heard about it on a podcast I like a lot.
Four-decade old cold case solved when Ga. woman uploaded DNA test results to public website
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/the-reveal/all-in-the-family-dna-investigation/85-179895c9-1b7e-4e93-8ab4-beae25a44a79
She was listening to the ‘Murder Squad: Jenson & Holes” podcast. Paul Holes is the guy who tracked down the Golden State Killer via DNA ... quite the story.
https://podcastrepublic.net/podcast/1455668750
The Murder Squad guys interviewed her on the podcast, January 13, 2020 Episode.
“Jessi has been listening to The Murder Squad since episode 1, and followed Paul and Billy’s instructions and submitted her DNA to GEDMatch after using an ancestry site. In June, detectives in Colorado contacted her, asking her to help put together a family tree. And last month, an arrest was made in an almost 40-year-old unsolved murder. In this week’s Winter Distraction, Billy and Paul talk to the Squaderino who was instrumental in solving the first cold case by the Murder Squad community.”
Look Ma!
NO HANS!.....................
Good story, as an aside...
Sugarloaf: ‘Hey, Green-eyed Lady, Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You!’
I love a happy ending.
(Justice actually came quicker than if he’d been arrested, tried, found guilty, & sat on death row for rest of his life)
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