Suspects Allegedly Posed As Utility Workers Before Attack That Left 72-Year-Old Man Dead

A man is accused of posing as a utility worker to gain entry into an upscale Michigan home, killing the man who lived there and tying up his wife.

Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was charged Sunday with felony murder and other crimes in a “gruesome attack” on Hussein Murray, 72, and his 72-year-old wife on Friday at their Rochester Hills home, the prosecutor’s office said. The victim owned a local jewelry store, and Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told The Detroit News Monday that the suspects likely followed him home from the store.

Hernandez was arrested Saturday in Shreveport, Louisiana, after sheriff’s officials distributed photos and video from the couple’s doorbell camera showing two men in fluorescent vests and displaying fake DTE Energy credentials and paperwork.

The second man was arrested Monday afternoon during a traffic stop in Plymouth Township, sheriff’s officials announced, which is located about 40 miles from the Murrays’ home. He has not yet been identified publicly.

Prosecutors said Hernandez and the other man first visited the Murrays’ home Thursday night, saying they were there to check on a gas leak, but the Murrays didn’t let them in.

The men, who were driving a white pickup truck with a DTE sign on its side and traffic cones in the back, returned Friday at around 10 a.m., authorities said. Murray let them in after signing phony DTE paperwork. He led them to the basement, where deputies found his body after his wife, identified by a local mosque as Linda Murchid Murray, called 911. His wrists and ankles were bound by duct tape, the prosecutor’s office said.

Murray’s death was ruled a homicide by the Oakland County Medical Examiner, according to sheriff’s officials, who did not reveal its cause.

However, on Friday they said that “because of the gruesome nature of [Murray’s] injuries,” they could not immediately tell whether he had been shot or bludgeoned.

The men returned from the basement without Murray, his wife told deputies, and asked her where the couple’s money and jewelry were. They duct-taped her wrists and ankles, and “hit her across the face” when she tried to scream, the prosecutor said.

Hernandez is currently being held in the Caddo County jail in Shreveport, Louisiana, as he awaits extradition to Michigan, according to online records. It is unclear whether he has an attorney.

Murray’s grandson, also named Hussein Murray, said in a statement to HuffPost that his grandfather had a “heart of gold” and “treated all those around him with kindness and compassion.”

“He has made a lasting impact with our family and community, and I’m beyond proud to call him my grandfather,” the younger Murray said. “We are heartbroken by the news of his death, but our family will bond through this with the resolve he has instilled in us by being the man he was.”

Hussein Murray told HuffPost his grandmother is “one of the strongest people I’ve ever known.”

After the home invasion on Friday, DTE issued a statement urging residents to check the photo ID badge of anyone who comes to their home claiming to be an employee of the utility company.

Murray grew up in Lebanon before immigrating to the U.S. and owned the Gold and Glitter jewelry store in Detroit.

Gold and Glitter called Murray a “pillar of strength” in an Instagram post on Monday.

“[He was a] great man who would always live by his principles, defend the oppressed, and give generously,” the store wrote.

Murray was also an “amazing cook” and gardener, his grandson said on Instagram.

“He’d always share the fruits and vegetables he grew in his garden, and I loved seeing the prideful smile he had when he showed what was grown that week.”

Murray’s burial was scheduled for Monday afternoon, the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn said. A commemoration service will be held at the mosque on Oct. 20.