Killer Targeted Random Sex Offenders Using State Registry
Authorities in South Carolina believe they have foiled a local man's plans to murder sex offenders using personal information gleaned from the state's sex offenders registry, the Associated Press reported.
Jeremy Moody, a 30-year-old self-described skinhead was arrested this week along with his wife Christine, and both were charged with the murder of Charles Parker, 59, and his 51-year-old wife Gretchen.
Moody reportedly confessed to investigators that he was using the state's registry to target random sex offenders.
"He planned to kill another sex offender on the register today," Sheriff David Taylor told reporters at a press conference today.
Moody and his wife arrived outside the Parkers Jonesville home on Sunday, and faked a car problem in order to be invited into the house.
There, Moody allegedly shot and stabbed the couple, but not before revealing the motive for the crime.
"You think I’m here to rob you," Moody told Parker, according to the sheriff. "I’m not here to rob you. I’m here to kill you because you are a child molester."
In actuality, Parker was convicted in 2003 of sexually assaulting a 31-year-old mentally challenged woman.
His wife, Gretchen, was also accused of the crime, but charges against her were later dropped.
Authorities say Moody had no beef with Gretchen and only killed her because she happened to be there at the time.
Moody had originally planned to kill Parker last year, but "chickened out," according to Taylor.
Surveillance cameras set up around the Parkers' residence helped point deputies in Moody's direction.
After his arrest, Moody reportedly told law enforcement officials it was a good thing they arrested him when they did, because he was on his way to kill another sex offender.
Moody had even gone so far as to write the individual's name down on a piece of paper, but authorities have not made that person's identity public.
Earlier this year, white supremacist Charles Francis Gaskins was convicted of murdering a man he met in prison after learning that he was a registered sex offender.
Gaskins belonged to the Peckerwoods prison gang — an affiliation that required him to attack any white man with a history of child molestation.
