Huntersville Police are investigating what they say is a triple homicide and suicide. They say it happened late Monday or early Tuesday, in a neighborhood of trailer homes off Old Statesville Road/N.C. 115, south of downtown. But the investigation, and discovery of victims, spread out over three days.
On Tuesday afternoon, police and MEDIC were called to Caldwell Station Road, where they found a 58-year-old man dead of multiple gunshot wounds. They began a homicide investigation and on Wednesday found the body of a 26-year-old man in a wooded area nearby. He had been shot and stabbed.
Then, on Thursday, they found a third victim: a 41-year-old man, dead in his home in the neighborhood, of a single gunshot. Also in the house was the body of a man that police suspect of the killings, 21-year-old Michael Matocha. Police said he apparently had shot himself.
The victims have been identified as Michael Eugene Elliot, 58; Kendrick Logan Knight, 26; and Phillip Daryl Jewell, 41.
A police spokeswoman, Sgt. Odette Saglimbeni, said Matocha and Knight were "good friends," but police are still trying to understand why it happened.
"If anybody knew them, if anybody has any information about what happened Memorial Day night into the morning of June 1st, they're encouraged to give us a call. Or if they heard anybody talking about it," Saglimbeni said.
It's the worst homicide case in Huntersville in more than a year. In March 2020, three members of a family were shot to death in a home just east of downtown. That case also likely was a murder-suicide, according to police.
Police are still seeking help with the case. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 704-464-5400 or North Mecklenburg Crime Stoppers, 704-896-7867.
