Post by Scumhunter on Mar 28, 2016 7:28:36 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: pilotonline.com)
From pilotonline.com:
Wayne Fehrm left very early the morning on June 26, 2007, to drive to Washington to deliver spools of copper wiring.
It was his wife's birthday, and their son, daughter-in-law and grandsons from Florida had joined the rest of the family. Fehrm wanted to get back with time to take them to what would be a surprise dinner for Deborah.
About 2 a.m., he pulled his red tractor-trailer onto Chestnut Street at his warehouse and got out to lock the gate.
He was walking back to the cab to begin his trip when he was shot in the chest.
Fehrm died face down in the grass across from the warehouse, in an industrial section of Prentis Place with houses and apartments not far away. The case remains unsolved.
The 57-year-old Wisconsin native was a religious man and a deacon at his church. He allowed a homeless man to sleep in a bus on the fenced-in lot, in exchange for work. That night, the homeless man's girlfriend and a buddy also were sleeping on the lot.
The three heard a gunshot.
They thought they saw a figure run down Brighton Street, but the truck was blocking their view. They ran to Fehrm, then to Vickie's convenience store nearby on Effingham Street to call 911.
After nine years on the police force, Det. Mark Luck was new to the homicide unit.
He was asleep when a sergeant called. It was his first homicide case.
Police canvassed the residences. The door of Fehrm's truck was open. His wallet was still on him.
Maybe the shooter planned to rob him and accidentally fired.
Perhaps something was missing from the truck's cab.
Police found a shell casing next to Fehrm's body and a mangled bullet fragment on the street.
At 5 a.m., Luck went to the Fehrm home in Chesapeake's Western Branch to tell Deborah Fehrm her husband was dead.
The three people sleeping on the lot were ruled out as suspects. Police did not get a single Crime Line tip in the case.
Narcotics detectives who later made arrests in the area offered leniency for anyone who knew about the killing.
"No one knew anything," Luck said.
After 34 years of marriage, Deborah Fehrm closed her husband's trucking business and kept working to pay bills.
In an interview at her home, she described her husband as patient, kind, quiet, giving and loving, always donating clothes to The Salvation Army.
"He loved animals and he loved his family," she said. He found their dog, Hunter, tied to a pole, abandoned, and brought him home.
Her church and counseling have helped her, she said.
"I still will never believe anything like this happened."
She sometimes drives by the warehouse on her lunch break and sits outside.
Luck has now investigated 12 homicides.
Arrests have been made in nine.
In the Fehrm case, he got a new lead in December. He can't publicly reveal it.
Deborah Fehrm hopes an arrest is made, but said she realizes it would probably change her life again.
"Sometimes I think that the worst is yet to come, when you have to face that person," she said.
pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/portsmouth-murder-case-remains-unsolved/article_ee0fe832-a471-5ef8-ba91-ec282fe7fa8e.html#commentsDiv
Thoughts? The above article is from 2011, and this case was on AMW's website as a web-exclusive "My Story" case, where Wayne's sister-in-law narrated the article on the case. As far as I know, this case is still unsolved, but as always, if that's no longer the case, feel free to let us know. Unfortunately, the My Story archive now pretty much no longer works but here is the link to the introduction page: web.archive.org/web/20100225060302/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=49764#case
Admin Note #1: Based on crime location, our advice for anyone with information on who killed Wayne Fehrm would be to call the Portsmouth, VA Crimeline at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form