2nd suspect in Michigan home invasion where perpetrators posed as utility men charged with murder
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on October 18, 2024
(NEW YORK) — The second suspect who was arrested earlier this week in connection to the deadly Michigan home invasion on Oct. 11 that left 72-year-old Rochester Hills businessman Hussein Murray dead has been formally charged with multiple counts, including felony murder, police said.
“Joshua Zuazo, 39, of Dearborn, is charged in a three-count warrant issued today by prosecutors with felony murder – a life offense if convicted – and two counts of unlawful imprisonment – 15-year felonies,” said the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in a statement announcing the charges. “The warrant was signed late [Thursday] afternoon by 52-3 District Judge Laura Polizzi.”
Zuazo is now being held in the Oakland County Jail and is expected to be arraigned on the charges on Friday at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Murray was found dead Friday last Friday in the basement of his Rochester Hills home, according to the sheriff’s office. His wife, who called 911, had been tied up with her hands duct-taped.
The woman told law enforcement officials that the night before the attack, the two suspects had also shown up to the home claiming to be responding to a gas leak, but they were not allowed inside.
When they showed up again on Friday, they were let into the home, and her husband went with them into the basement, “ostensibly to look for the leak,” according to the sheriff’s department.
When they came back upstairs without her husband, they tied her up and taped her hands, the woman said. She did not see him come out afterward and “assumed he had been kidnapped.”
In home security camera footage released by the sheriff’s department, the since-arrested suspect can be seen wearing a utility worker’s uniform and a mask while holding a clipboard.
“We’re DTE. We’re checking for gas leaks,” the man can be heard saying in the video, naming the Michigan-based energy company.
The other suspect, Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was arrested last Saturday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. He has been charged with murder, and law enforcement officials are seeking his extradition from Louisiana.
“I want to reiterate how proud I am of our whole team and what they did to quickly move this case forward, not only taking our suspects off the street, but bringing evidence to the prosecutor to move this into her court for the next phase,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement Thursday.
ABC News’ Julia Reinstein contributed to this report.
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