UPDATE: Skip Brinkley Still on the Loose

The alleged murderer of Caldwell County Sheriff’s (N.C.) deputy Adam Klutz is still on the loose.

Skip Brinkley, also known as Larry Wayne Brucke Jr. in his native Walhalla, stands accused of shooting Klutz in the head and Lt. Chris Martin in his vest three times Friday night while following up a 9-1-1 hang-up from the home. Martin suffered no major injuries.

According to reports, Brucke was last seen riding away from the scene on horseback.

“We do know that the authorities in North Carolina have confiscated all of his vehicles,” Capt. Steve Jenkins with the Oconee County Sheriff’s office said. “If he does have a ride, it is borrowed or stolen. We do have information that he possibly still has a weapon in his possession.”

Brucke is described as a white male, standing 5’8’’, weighing roughly 180 pounds with blonde hair, green eyes and a recently grown goatee. Jenkins said their information indicates his name change from Brucke to Brinkley is fairly recent, as he was born a Brucke.

“The information we’ve gathered is that his mother moved to North Carolina and remarried a fellow whose last name is Brinkley,” Jenkins said. “That is when he started going by Brinkley.”

Brucke is a former member of the Army National Guard and has served a tour of duty in Iraq. He is best known in the area for having grown up in Walhalla and served as an officer in the Seneca Police Department from 2001 to 2002. Seneca Police Chief John Covington confirmed the dates of Brucke’s employment, but said he could not specify his reasons for leaving, as it was technically a personnel matter. The lead agency in the matter is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), while Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) are all contributing to the investigation.

“I have been in contact with Caldwell County authorities there, and with the FBI,” Jenkins said. “We do know that he still has some family and friends here, and we have been in contact with them. We don’t know if he has attempted to contact anyone down here yet.”

Jenkins stated further that those who do know him have not seen him for a long period of time, and most of them were only “acquaintances.” Authorities do not have any concrete information leading them to believe he is back in South Carolina, he said.

“The authorities in North Carolina are working on several locations up there,” Jenkins said. “Down here we’re patrolling areas we know he’s acquainted with, so that is our role right now.”


More Information: http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-092308-krg-deputyphoto.a6d91525.html

Officer Skip Brinkley Accused of Murder Thought of as a Nice Guy

OAK HILL, N.C.

People in this quiet countryside knew Iraq war veteran Skip Brinkley as a friendly, peaceable man – “the perfect neighbor,” one of his neighbors said Monday.

Brinkley and his fiancée, Jennifer Foutty, bought about 35 acres on Fox Winkler Road about a year ago, built a barn at the base of a mountain and had recently started constructing a house.

The image is in stark contrast to the crimes he's accused of: Authorities say Brinkley shot two Caldwell County sheriff's deputies Friday night, one fatally, before fleeing.

They were still searching for him Monday evening but had gotten no strong leads nor any confirmed sightings. SWAT teams stood on standby in case someone spots him.

Investigators focused on canvassing the neighborhood around the Brinkley property for information, while an N.C. Highway Patrol helicopter flew over the area and deputies guarded children at nearby Oak Hill Elementary School.

Brinkley, an S.C. native who recently changed his name from Larry Wayne Brucke Jr., had given neighbors no inkling of a violent nature.

In fact, his neighbor across the road, Elaine Hatley, said he wanted to shield his family from harm, recently mentioning to her that he didn't want anybody hunting on his property “because he didn't want guns around his children.”

News of the shootings stunned Hatley. “I never saw this side of him,” she said, “and as far as I was concerned, he was the perfect neighbor to me.”

Brinkley has no criminal record in North Carolina but was convicted on a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and battery in his home state in 2004, according to S.C. Law Enforcement Division records.

But his service in the Army appears to have been commendable, according to his service record. Brinkley received the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

He joined the N.C. National Guard in 1994. He was stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky., on active duty from June 1996 to June 1999 before being transferred to the Army's Individual Ready Reserve and discharged in February 2002.

In December 2005, Brinkley enlisted in the N.C. Army National Guard, holding the rank of specialist when he served in Iraq with the National Guard from May 2006 to April 2007.

Since May, he's been in the Army's Individual Ready Reserve, available to fill vacancies in Army Reserve units and replace soldiers in active and reserve units.

“He just looks like a regular soldier who did his job,” Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman, said Monday after reviewing his public military service record.

In Oak Hill, he pursued a quiet, domestic life in the foothills between Lenoir and Taylorsville.

Hatley said Brinkley and Foutty built an apartment onto the end of the barn they had constructed for their horses and mules, living there with Foutty's three children while their house was being built.

The family became acquainted with Hatley, a retiree who said Brinkley occasionally stopped at her home to check on her well-being. He even granted her a favor recently.

Hatley's grandfather originally owned the property Brinkley bought, and she had asked him if she could have a few of the large rocks her grandfather had used to build the foundation and chimney of his farmhouse, which burned years ago.

“One day, he came up with a tractor and a load of rocks and put them around the front of my house where I wanted them,” Hatley said. “He was proud of what he did with (my grandfather's) place, and he showed me around.”

Last Friday, Hatley noticed Brinkley working mules on his farm. He'd hitched them to a one-seat wagon and was driving them up and down Fox Winkler Road, a narrow ribbon of blacktop with no striping.

Then that night, Hatley and other neighbors heard gunshots, but Hatley didn't pay any attention because guns are a common part of country life.

Then she and the rest of Oak Hill learned what had happened. They mourned for the family of sheriff's Deputy Adam William Klutz, the rookie officer who died early Saturday after being shot in the head. Lt. Chris Martin, who was backing up Klutz on a 911 hang-up call from the Brinkley home, survived three gunshots to the chest, saved by a bullet-proof vest.

Colleagues said Klutz, a Granite Falls native, had an easy smile and happy nature.

“He had a bright career ahead of him,” said Caldwell sheriff's spokesman B.J. Fore.

“I feel for the family of the officer,” Hatley said. “I'm praying for them every day, and I know that won't bring him back. I'm also praying for Skip.”

-- The Charlotte Observer

Former Officer Larry Brucke Jr Wanted for Murder

LENOIR, N.C.

The man accused of fatally shooting a Caldwell County sheriff's deputy is a former S.C. police officer with Army Ranger training who continued to elude authorities Sunday.

All day, hundreds of federal, state and local investigators searched unsuccessfully in woods off winding roads for Larry Wayne Brucke Jr., an Iraq War veteran, who recently changed his name to Skip Brinkley. Authorities described him Sunday as “very dangerous.” He is accused of shooting Det. Adam Klutz in the head after he responded to a 911 hang-up call about 9:40 p.m. Friday. Klutz died early Saturday.

Lt. Chris Martin, who arrived moments later to back up Klutz, also was shot three times. He was spared serious injuries by his bullet proof vest.

Authorities Sunday said they believe Brinkley is armed at least with an assault rifle and he is now believed to be on foot or in a vehicle. After two days of searching, they had found no evidence indicating he was nearby. They said they weren't sure if he had been injured when Martin returned fire.

There were initial reports that he possibly rode off on a horse from the farm he lives on at Fox Winkler Road. But that horse was accounted for on Sunday, said Det. B.J. Fore, a spokesman for the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators declined to provide a recording of the 911 hang-up call and other calls possibly made after the shootings. They also couldn't say whether there had ever been reports of trouble at the home nestled among rolling hills off N.C. 64.

Dozens of police vehicles blocked access to the area Sunday where volunteers turned the Oak Hill Community Ruritan Club into a makeshift dining hall for searchers. Residents rolled out homemade pies while others grilled burgers and served fries to heavily-armed deputies with camouflage-painted faces.

By nightfall, authorities halted the search operation. But today there will be additional security at the nearby Oak Hill Elementary school and armed officers riding school buses, officials said.

“We're talking about a very dangerous person,” Fore said.

He declined to give any details about what may have prompted the 911 call. Brinkley's fiancée and two children who were in the home at the time, were not injured, Fore said.

He used to patrol the area and said he wasn't familiar with Brinkley, who had been in Caldwell County only for about a year.

Brinkley grew up in Walhalla, S.C., west of Greenville. His father, Larry Wayne Brucke Sr. told WCNC-TV, the Charlotte Observer's news partner, that he joined the Army right out of high school. He served at Fort Campbell, Ky., and in Iraq as an infantry soldier from 2004 to 2006. Authorities couldn't specify when he received Ranger training, or whether he completed it.

Authorities could not confirm whether Brinkley was honorably discharged or confirm whether he was injured during his Iraq service.

In addition to his military training, Brinkley completed basic law enforcement training in North Carolina and served as a police officer in Seneca, S.C., before joining the National Guard. His father told WCNC he served about a year in the Guard before getting out. His father said he was not aware of any troubles during Brinkley's military service.

Brinkley, who only recently changed his name, had been working most recently as a part-time truck driver and had a large construction project underway behind the home on Fox Winkler Road.

Friday's shooting was the second time recently that a suspect took aim at members of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office. Earlier this month, two deputies were shot while serving a search warrant. The deputies, who were wearing bulletproof vests, weren't seriously hurt.

“This has been a rough few weeks for this department,” Fore said. “Our department is hurting, but we are carrying on with this investigation, out of pride and for Adam.”

More Information:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425711,00.html