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A former FBI special agent says the fatal stabbing and home invasion of a country singer’s mother may not have been “random.”
Virginia authorities said a man killed 62-year-old Holly Hatcher, a former teacher, around midnight on Aug. 3 at home in Rockingham County during a home invasion. Michael Hatcher, 65, shot and killed the intruder, who was identified by officials as 41-year-old Kevin Moses Walker.
The couple’s son, 31-year-old Spencer Hatcher, is an up-and-coming country singer who announced he is canceling several of his upcoming shows following his mother’s death.
Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said Walker had no known criminal history and is from Pikesville, Maryland, which is about a three-hour drive from the Hatcher’s residence. The sheriff said that the home invasion was random and “highly unusual,” adding that Walker had brought a “large knife” into the home.
Former FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital he questions whether the home invasion and subsequent stabbing was random.
Holly Hatcher (L) was killed in a home invasion on Aug. 3. (Holly Hatcher/Facebook)
“He drove specifically to where a place, a location was at, where there was a tourist location, where there were these caverns. He took a tour of the cavern. He reserved a camping spot. He went to Walmart and bought a sleeping bag and a knife,” Gilliam said. “Those are very specific things … not random actions.”
“So when I look at that, I know that part of what happened is not random,” Gilliam added.
Gilliam said Walker’s behavior before the crash appeared to be normal but then became “psychotic and random.”
“We know that he did all these actions with structured behavior up until the point of a crash. And then his behavior became psychotic and random,” he said. “So, I think it’s too early, and there’s not enough evidence from what I can see that it’s just to be determined to be a random attack.”
Gilliam also said detectives should determine if the two crossed paths at all in the days leading up to the attack.
“They need to look at what the victims do and if they had any encounters with this guy earlier in the day, because also, if his typical way he operates, if he is a killer for instance, is to go somewhere, wander around in polite manner and then pick some victims and then eventually go get them. They could have met throughout that day,” he said.
In this Aug. 10, 2021 photo, country artist Spencer Hatcher poses for a photo at his Tenth Legion, Va. farm. Hatcher, who has over a half-million followers on TikTok, was recently featured in a Mountain Dew commercial playing a bluegrass jingle for a new product. (Daniel Lin/Daily News-Record via AP)
Former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News Digital that while “this is one of the saddest cases that you could come across,” detectives may never find a motive.
“I don’t think we’re going to ever find out the motive in this case, in light of the fact that Kevin Moses Walker is dead,” Williams said. “This certainly is a case that will have to be studied by law enforcement for some time to come, because this man, Kevin Moses Walker, was not on anybody’s radar screen.”
Friday, Aug. 1
- 2:22 p.m.: Walker rented a campsite at Endless Caverns in New Market, Virginia. He also paid for a tour of the cavern at this time.
- 3:00 p.m.: Walker takes a one-hour tour of the cavern, which lasts one hour.
- 5:24 p.m.: Walker entered the Timberville, Virginia, Walmart and went to the outdoor section to buy a sleeping bag and a large knife.
- 5:45 p.m.: Walker can be seen leaving the Timberville, Virginia, Walmart on a surveillance camera.
The Endless Caverns are just 3.5 miles from the Hatcher family home, where authorities say 41-year-old Maryland man Kevin Moses Walker broke in with a knife and attacked the parents of country singer Spencer Hatcher. Walker killed 62-year-old Holly Hatcher with a knife before her husband, who was also injured, shot him dead. (Google Earth)
Saturday, Aug. 2
- 6:37 a.m.: The Virginia State Police received a call regarding a vehicle that was abandoned and believed to have been involved in some kind of crash in the area of the campsite.
- Hutcheson said the vehicle belonged to Walker, adding that the car was properly registered and not stolen. Inside the car, the sheriff said there was a one-night Endless Caverns parking pass. State police went back to Endless caverns to try and find Walker but found that the campsite store had been broken into and “rammed by a motor vehicle.” Hutcheson said the damage was consistent with damage found on Walker’s abandoned car.
- According to Hutcheson, nothing was stolen from the store. Checks run by police on Walker found that he wasn’t wanted for any crime. Virginia State Police attempted to locate Walker, but he wasn’t found. Felony warrants were obtained for Walker.
- Mike Stewart, the general manager at Endless Caverns, said that Walker came across as polite, stating: “He was a ‘yes ma’am, no sir,’ person, just didn’t register any aggressiveness on our part … that’s why everybody’s looking for answers.”
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Kevin Moses Walker, 41, pictured leaving a Virginia Walmart store on Aug. 1, two days before authorities say he broke into the family home of country singer Spencer Hatcher, killed his 62-year-old mother, and was then shot dead by her husband. (Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office)
Sunday, Aug. 3
- 11:58 p.m.: Michael Hatcher, Holly’s husband, called 911 to report a home invasion with an armed intruder on the 13000 block of North Valley Pike in Timberville.
- The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Walker had entered the home with a “large knife” and stabbed Holly Hatcher. Walker then attacked Michael Hatcher, who was able to retrieve a handgun from his car before killing the suspect with a single shot, officials said.
Michael Hatcher, left, seen with a bandage on his right forearm as he discusses the attack with Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson in a still image taken from video. (Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office)
Spencer Hatcher said in an Instagram post that his planned performances at the VOA Country Music Fest in Ohio and the Rockingham County Fair in Harrisonburg, Virginia, have been canceled.
“I hope to make these dates up to my fans in the future,” Spencer Hatcher wrote. “I appreciated everyone that has lent their support to me and my loved ones.”