Dearborn suspect charged with murder in death of Rochester Hills man

A Dearborn man has been charged with the murder of a 72-year-old Rochester Hills man and is in the process of being extradited from Louisiana.

Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was arrested Oct. 12 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and has been charged with felony murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment, according to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. 

Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies on Interstate 49 spotted a vehicle that matched the description of Hernandez’s vehicle and arrested Hernandez for multiple armed robbery warrants from Ohio and the Oakland County murder warrant. 

At press time, Hernandez was being held in the Caddo Correction Center and was scheduled to appear in court in the next few days. It was not immediately known if Hernandez would waive extradition to Michigan. 

“I am so proud of our whole team and how they worked around the clock to bring this case forward. I am also very proud of our partnership with the U.S. Marshal’s Service as well as the local sheriff’s office that was watching for our suspect vehicle,” Bouchard said in a statement.

Hernandez is one of two men suspected of killing 72-year-old Hussain Murray Oct. 11 after claiming to be DTE workers. Information on a second suspect has not been released.

The second man accused in the slaying of 72-year-old Rochester Hills businessman Hussein Murray was arrested in Plymouth Township at 1:40 p.m. Oct. 14 by members of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Team, with the assistance from the Detroit Fugitive Task Force, the Michigan State Police, and the U.S. Marshals Service. At press time his name had not been released by police.

“I continue to be super proud of our team and their tireless efforts to pursue the suspects and take them off the street as quickly as possible,” Bouchard said in a statement. “I thank our local, state, and federal partners for all their work. We continue to work every detail and expect the defendants to be held fully accountable for their heinous actions.”

The incident happened around 11:20 a.m. in the 3700 block of Newcastle Drive, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

“We responded to a call that they had intruders come into the house posing as DTE workers and said there was a gas leak they needed to check, and they let them in,” Sheriff Mike Bouchard said. “The husband went to the basement with the two individuals, and a period of time later, the two individuals came back up without the husband, restrained the wife with duct tape and searched the house for a period of time and then left.”

The woman, who was upstairs, was able to free herself enough to call 911.

“When we responded, we found a very tragic situation. The husband was deceased in the basement,” Bouchard said.

Authorities later learned the two suspects, who had a white pickup truck with a DTE placard on the side, had tried to gain entry to the same house the night prior. 

“They had apparently come last night at around 10 p.m. saying they wanted to investigate a gas leak then and were denied entry to the home, so they came back this morning with the same story and, unfortunately, were let in,” Bouchard said.

Murray’s 72-year-old wife was briefly hospitalized after the incident. 

“I know she was rushed to the hospital. I don’t know if it was because she was in shock, or because she was hurt, or just because of the scenario itself that they wanted to check on her,” he said.

It was unclear what was taken, and authorities are currently investigating a possible motive.

“We know that they are small business owners. They have a jewelry and pawn shop small business in Wayne County. We do see, time-to-time, business owners that are targeted at their residences, especially when it involves jewelry and cash. That is a possible scenario here, but it’s kind of a work in progress.”

Authorities believe the incident to be a targeted and isolated attack.

“If I’m using my intuition and years of experience, this wasn’t a random thing. It was targeted, so if you happen to be in this neighborhood — which is a very safe, nice neighborhood — I wouldn’t be concerned that your house might be next. We don’t think it’s one of those scenarios based on what we see and know so far. If that changes, we’ll, obviously, let the community know.”

RCS Superintendent Nicholas Russo said school officials were notified by police of their response to a “community situation that was not school-related.”

Exercising “extreme caution,” he said, Adams High School, Van Hoosen MIddle School and Musson Elementary were placed into “secure status for a short time, where all individuals remained inside the building with outside doors locked.” After receiving an all-clear from police, all schools proceeded with classes and activities as scheduled.

“Safety remains our top priority,” Russo said in a statement. 

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Bouchard said, plans to be onsite at the scene for “a long time.”

“Our DNA team will be in the house, our latent prints and forensic team will be in the house, then our detectives will be in the house. It’s gonna be awhile,” he said the afternoon of the incident. 

Residents in the area are asked to check their Ring cameras for a white, single-cab truck, most likely with markings that say DTE,  between 9 and 10 p.m. Oct. 10 and 10 a.m. and noon Oct. 11, and to contact the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office’s Rochester Hills substation with any findings. 

Anyone with information who may have seen Hernandez or his accomplice or who has any information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case. Deputies said tipsters remain anonymous.