STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A 47-year-old Ohio man of tying up a woman and her teenage daughter for days before killing the mother in their North Carolina home.
Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell told local media outlets Tuesday the two were violently assaulted in what he called a “demonic” crime.
Gary Love, of Wadsworth, Ohio, is charged with murder and is being held without bond. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.
Deputies found the woman dead Monday morning after her 14-year-old daughter texted a friend for help. Love told officers who came to check on the two that they were at a funeral, then fled out the back door. He was arrested soon afterward.
The daughter told deputies she had been tied up since Christmas Eve. She was treated at a local hospital and is staying with relatives.
Authorities are awaiting autopsy results to determine how the mother died.
The teen has not been identified. The AP is not identifying the woman because authorities say they expect to add sexual abuse charges.
Campbell says Love has been in North Carolina for several months. He and the woman knew each other years ago when they lived in New York, according to a sheriff’s office release.
Local media outlets report Love is wanted in Ohio for domestic violence and had a protection order against him.
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