Sunday, July 26, 2009
Hardy murder suspect surrenders to Missouri police
Missing since July 13, Phillip Kingery has been charged in the death of his wife, Rose Kingery.
Philip A. Kingery
Kingery was still driving a Ford pickup truck that state police had earlier identified as the vehicle in which Kingery had apparently fled the area, but state police spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said the truck bore Oklahoma license plates.
Rose Kingery
Shown in a 1985 photo. Her body was found July 17.
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Philip Allan Kingery, 48, sought for more than a week as a suspect in his wife's killing, turned himself in Saturday morning to a St. Louis County, Mo., police officer, said the county police spokesman.
Kingery, from Hardy in Franklin County, was booked in St. Louis County Jail at 9 a.m. He will appear in court for an extradition hearing Monday, a jail official said.
Kingery has been charged with murder in the death of his wife, Rose Kingery, 52, whose body was found July 17 near the couple's home on Coopers Cove Road in Hardy. Both had been reported missing July 13. Kingery also faces charges for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
St. Louis County police spokesman Rick Eckhard said Kingery was at a QuikTrip convenience store in Fenton, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis, when he turned himself in and was arrested by a police officer.
Kingery was still driving a Ford pickup truck that state police had earlier identified as the vehicle in which Kingery had apparently fled the area, but state police spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said the truck bore Oklahoma license plates.
Eckhard said he could not comment on details of the arrest or say if Kingery had a firearm on him or in his pickup because it is an active case of the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Virginia State Police had been searching for Kingery for more than a week, describing him as "armed and dangerous."
The case started July 13, when a report of a missing couple was filed with state police and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
Carpentieri said the case turned into a criminal investigation sometime between July 13 and July 17, when Rose Kingery's body was discovered.
According to real estate tax records, Philip and Rose Kingery owned a house in the 800 block of Coopers Cove Road.
Police have not released other details related to Rose Kingery's killing.
Rose Kingery's memorial service was Saturday afternoon at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Rose Kingery had worked as a recreational leader in the Health and Rehabilitation Center for the Friendship Retirement Community.
Cliff Hapgood, Franklin County commonwealth's attorney, could not be reached for comment Saturday about Kingery's possible extradition.
