The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Hatcher family released a joint statement Thursday night to address a fatal incident at a Timberville home that left two people dead and one seriously injured.
While there were rumors swirling about the fatal encounter, Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson wanted to put an end to speculation by sharing the facts of the case.
Hutcheson said in the joint video statement that the tragedy was “a highly unusual” and “completely random” act of violence from someone with no criminal background.
“I have never seen anything like it in my entire career, just the way the unusual, unique and just crazy situation that this turned out to be,” he said.
Holly Hatcher, 62, the family matriarch, died due to injuries sustained after a Maryland man armed with a large knife entered the North Valley Pike home late Sunday night.
The intruder, Kevin Moses Walker, 41, of Pikesville, Md., was also killed after Michael Hatcher, Holly’s husband, retrieved a gun from his vehicle and fired a single shot.
Michael Hatcher, 65, survived the harrowing incident that killed his wife, but sustained serious injuries from the altercation with the suspect.
No charges will be filed against Walker due to his death, according to police.
Timeline: Tracking the killer
Virginia State Police and Rockingham County investigators have determined that the intruder rented a campsite at Endless Caverns on Friday, Aug. 1, at approximately 2:22 p.m.
According to authorities, he also paid for a one-hour tour of the cavern starting at 3 p.m.
At 5:24 p.m., the offender entered the Timberville Walmart and purchased a sleeping bag and a large knife. He left the store at 5:45 p.m.
On Saturday, at 6:37 a.m., VSP received a call reporting an abandoned, disabled vehicle that had been involved in a crash of some kind on Endless Caverns Road. The vehicle was properly registered and was not stolen.
The parking pass inside the vehicle was for one night at Endless Caverns, which led VSP detectives to the caverns. A store at the caverns had been broken into, and it had damage consistent with having been rammed by a motor vehicle, and those damages appeared to be from the abandoned vehicle.
Police discovered that the suspect went into the caverns and the store following the crash but didn’t appear to steal anything.
Walker was not wanted in any other jurisdictions and was licensed to operate the vehicle. VSP used a drone to search the area, but didn’t locate Walker. There were no phone calls or other leads at the time.
The next call came in when Michael Hatcher called 911 to report the incident at his home, located just over two miles from the campground.
No information was released on Walker’s mental health or where he might have travelled prior to his arrival in Timberville. It is also unknown if he had any connections to the area or Virginia.
Family: ‘There’s going to be questions that will never be answered’
Spencer Hatcher, one of three sons of Holly and Michael, and an emerging country-music artist, said in the video that while there had been speculation into what happened at the family homestead, they were releasing the statement to present “just the facts that we know.”
Spencer was scheduled to perform a concert at the Rockingham County Fair on Aug. 12. The show was cancelled following the tragedy.
Michael Hatcher, clearly emotional, thanked the public and Sheriff’s Office for their support since the confrontation and murder of his wife.
“There’s no way for you to know the trauma and the pain and the unanswered questions that I have had, that my three sons, Dane, Spencer and Connor have had,” said Michael Hatcher. “Each of you have made it much more bearable through your outpouring of love and your caring and your kindness and support to all of us, and for that, I thank you so much.
“I’ve heard a lot of you say that there are no words to explain this, and there aren’t, and there’s going to be questions that will never be answered, but all I can tell you is we’ve cried, we’ve hurt, and we’ve hugged, and we have found more love than we have ever known has existed.”
Spencer and Michael Hatcher both thanked Sheriff Hutcheson and his office for going above and beyond the call of duty to assist the family in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“In talking with the family this morning, we again, we felt like this was the right thing, the right way to go about getting highly unusual and very, very tragic situation that occurred this week, and hear the family side of it as well as the investigative side of it,” said Hutcheson in the 13-minute video posted on social media. “I’m going to start by saying that, for me, that’s an overlap, because I’ve known the Hatcher family for a great number of years myself, when all of them were probably not much taller than this desk we’re sitting at, running around the little league ballfields and playgrounds of Rockingham County. And then, my oldest son had Holly as a teacher in school, absolutely loved her, and I’m sure I can speak for many, many other children she taught over the years as to what a wonderful, wonderful teacher and influence on his life that she was.”
Grandle Funeral Home has a short obituary posted for Hatcher, however, no arrangements have been announced.
The investigation remains ongoing, according to Hutcheson.
Video: Joint statement with Hatcher family, sheriff
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Crystal Graham
