Lake Wylie double homicides remains a mystery as FBI jumps in
The Oct. 23 slaying of a Lake Wylie couple in their home has turned into a full-fledged mystery filled with rumor, questions, and the unexplained involvement of the FBI – but no arrests.
The case – that would be eligible for York County prosecutors to seek the death penalty because there are two victims in a single crime – has turned into a multi-agency interstate probe featuring federal agents and prosecutors. They are suddenly interested in a Charlotte robbery case where one of the defendants has already pleaded guilty and been released on probation and the victims’ sister claiming that her brother died with a gun in his hand defending his family when killed.
Debbie London, 61, and Doug London, 63, were found shot in their lakefront home on a secluded Lake Wylie peninsula late on Oct. 23. Their grown son, Daniel, 27, who owns the home, called 911, police have said.
Saturday, York County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Trent Faris said there was nothing new to report. Yet the case remains a riddle over not just who killed the Londons, but why the FBI would be investigating the May robbery of the Londons where two of the three people involved were in jail when the Londons were killed Oct. 23.
Doug and Debbie London had no criminal record in South Carolina, had lived in the house for almost 30 years, and were well-loved by neighbors and friends. Doug was a former professional golfer and artist. His wife was retired from working for an airline and was involved in charity work. The couple made a living selling mattresses in a chain store that specializes in deep discounts.
York County deputies and coroner officials have released no information about how many times the Londons were each shot, or where they were shot on their bodies.
Police have not said if the murder weapons have been recovered.
It is clear Doug London was armed May 25, when he shot one of three men allegedly involved in the robbery of the store on South Boulevard in Charlotte. In that incident, police say Jamell Cureton, 22, shot at London while robbing the store. Doug London shot back, hitting Cureton. Both Cureton and Nana Adoma later admitted involvement, police say.
Cureton, with a drug conviction on his record and four months in jail in early 2014 after violating probation from his drug offenses, had been out of jail six weeks when he allegedly robbed Doug and Debbie London at gunpoint.
Police have declined to comment on any link between the May 25 robbery and the Oct. 23 slayings the Londons. All York County deputies have said is investigators do not believe the killing of the Londons was a random act , and that the community should not be fearful for its safety.
Cureton confessed to the May robbery and Nana Adoma, 19, Cureton’s brother, confessed to being the lookout, federal charges state. David Fudge, 21 pleaded guilty Sept. 24 to accessory after the fact – he apparently was the getaway driver – and Fudge was sentenced in North Carolina court to probation and forced to wear an electronic monitor.
There is no record of the FBI, or any other agency, having any involvement in the robbery case at the time Fudge pleaded guilty. Charlotte prosecution officials have declined to say if Fudge had to agree to cooperate against Cureton and Adoma to receive a sentence of probation for his part in an armed robbery.
Daniel London, in a post on Facebook, called the sentence Fudge received a “slap on the wrist” and told a packed funeral Wednesday that his parents died upset and frustrated by the North Carolina legal system.
Cureton and Adoma have not been out of jail since their arrest. After the FBI took over the case Thursday, Cureton’s lawyer, Chiege Okwara, said Cureton had no involvement in the killings because he was in jail.
Federal laws sometimes carry harsher sentences for crimes, so that could be a reason for federal prosecutors to charge Cureton and Adoma.
Clearly, the Londons had complained about the North Carolina system of justice. But victims complain, and at times rightfully so, all the time. Victim complaints don’t normally bring in the FBI.
Then again, robbery victims aren’t normally slaughtered in their home five months later.
Neither FBI nor U.S. Attorney’s spokespersons have commented on why the FBI is involved in a robbery case, and have also declined to say if the FBI is now involved in the homicide investigation. The case is now 10 days old without arrests, or any explanation to the public by local, state, or federal officials about what is going on, or why.
This story was originally published November 1, 2014 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Lake Wylie double homicides remains a mystery as FBI jumps in."