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Family of Mooresville murder victim, state offer reward for information leading to arrest
By Melinda Skutnick | Mooresville Tribune
Published: August 21, 2009
Mooresville police investigators hope the lure of an $11,000 reward will help them close a nearly 11-week homicide investigation with an arrest.
Still without a suspect in the June 9 murder of 31-year-old Matthew Stewart, Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins announced Thursday afternoon that additional monies have become available toward a reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
Gov. Beverly Perdue and the state, said Robbins, have offered a reward of "up to $5,000." Those dollars, he said, as well as a $5,000 reward from Stewart's family and a $1,000 reward from Mooresville-South Iredell Crime Stoppers has created a possible $11,000 stipend for pertinent, valid information.
"At the end of the day, (the investigation) is really going to come down to the public," Robbins said.
According to autopsy results released in late July for Stewart, the husband and father of three was shot and stabbed several times during what has been termed a home invasion in the Gabriel Estates neighborhood in north Mooresville. The incident happened shortly after midnight on June 9.
Stewart's wife, Angela, has said she, her husband and youngest son were in bed when a gunman entered their bedroom at 158 Shephard Hill Drive and began shooting. She was able to escape to a neighbor's house with that son. The other children were not harmed.
Her husband, however, sustained gunshot wounds to his face, chest, back and arm as well as stab wounds in the neck, face and shoulder. Additionally, his body showed blunt force trauma wounds and defensive wounds from trying to fight the attacker.
Despite following every lead that they have received, Robbins said Thursday that police have been unable to identify a suspect in the murder investigation. He noted that nobody thus far has been definitively ruled out as a suspect either.
"I think someone knows something and they just aren't coming forward," the chief said. "We're hoping this (reward) will help. We do believe there is someone out there with information that will break this case."
Calling the investigation an "unusual" one for the town of Mooresville – noting that most homicides are "solved quickly" – Robbins said police remain confident that they will find the person responsible for Stewart's death.
"We want to do everything in our power to solve this murder," he added, mentioning the state's willingness to help the investigation as much as possible.
Perdue's decision to offer a state reward, he said, shows the governor's public safety priority and desire to solve what she called "an infamous crime" in her reward proclamation.
As part of the state's reward monies, a poster and 500 flyers were printed and distributed around town asking for information.
Anyone with information about this crime, should call the MPD at 704-664-3311, Mooresville South Iredell Crime Stoppers at 704-658-9056 or the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-334-3000.
Family of Mooresville murder victim, state offer reward for information leading to arrest
By Melinda Skutnick | Mooresville Tribune
Published: August 21, 2009
Mooresville police investigators hope the lure of an $11,000 reward will help them close a nearly 11-week homicide investigation with an arrest.
Still without a suspect in the June 9 murder of 31-year-old Matthew Stewart, Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins announced Thursday afternoon that additional monies have become available toward a reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
Gov. Beverly Perdue and the state, said Robbins, have offered a reward of "up to $5,000." Those dollars, he said, as well as a $5,000 reward from Stewart's family and a $1,000 reward from Mooresville-South Iredell Crime Stoppers has created a possible $11,000 stipend for pertinent, valid information.
"At the end of the day, (the investigation) is really going to come down to the public," Robbins said.
According to autopsy results released in late July for Stewart, the husband and father of three was shot and stabbed several times during what has been termed a home invasion in the Gabriel Estates neighborhood in north Mooresville. The incident happened shortly after midnight on June 9.
Stewart's wife, Angela, has said she, her husband and youngest son were in bed when a gunman entered their bedroom at 158 Shephard Hill Drive and began shooting. She was able to escape to a neighbor's house with that son. The other children were not harmed.
Her husband, however, sustained gunshot wounds to his face, chest, back and arm as well as stab wounds in the neck, face and shoulder. Additionally, his body showed blunt force trauma wounds and defensive wounds from trying to fight the attacker.
Despite following every lead that they have received, Robbins said Thursday that police have been unable to identify a suspect in the murder investigation. He noted that nobody thus far has been definitively ruled out as a suspect either.
"I think someone knows something and they just aren't coming forward," the chief said. "We're hoping this (reward) will help. We do believe there is someone out there with information that will break this case."
Calling the investigation an "unusual" one for the town of Mooresville – noting that most homicides are "solved quickly" – Robbins said police remain confident that they will find the person responsible for Stewart's death.
"We want to do everything in our power to solve this murder," he added, mentioning the state's willingness to help the investigation as much as possible.
Perdue's decision to offer a state reward, he said, shows the governor's public safety priority and desire to solve what she called "an infamous crime" in her reward proclamation.
As part of the state's reward monies, a poster and 500 flyers were printed and distributed around town asking for information.
Anyone with information about this crime, should call the MPD at 704-664-3311, Mooresville South Iredell Crime Stoppers at 704-658-9056 or the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-334-3000.