Robbins, NC: Robbins Fire Deaths Ruled Murder-Suicide

By John Chappell

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Authorities have ruled two bodies found inside a burning home last week a murder-suicide. Firefighters called to the scene Aug. 29 found the bodies of Santana Vernal Sanchez, 28, and Apolonio Barrita Bustamonte in a front room of the house at 581 E. Lake St. in Robbins.

“They were both burned beyond recognition,” said Police Chief Jeff Sheffield. “We had to wait for identification based on dental records.”

Now that autopsies have been completed and determined Sanchez was murdered and Bustamonte killed himself — and families of all involved have been notified — Sheffield was able to release their names and conclude his investigation with the murder-suicide determination.

Police originally said a Hispanic male in his late 20s ran out into the street at about 3 p.m. that Monday and flagged down a vehicle. The driver, who works at nearby American Growler, took him to the police department after he said he’d been shot.

That man, Juan Carlos Sanchez, 29, had three .32 caliber bullet wounds in his back, Sheffield said this week. The deceased woman found in the home was his cousin. He was treated at the station by EMS and later at a local hospital. Sanchez is back home with family members now, the chief said.

The chief and officer Travis Baker were heading to the house to do a safety check when 911 operators dispatched the fire department to the same address. A neighbor, Richard Matthew Pope, saw the fire and rushed in the back door to rescue a 2-year-old boy he thought must be there. Three older children were in school.

“When we got there, a portion of the home was fully involved,” Sheffield said. “Once firefighters went in, that’s when they discovered the two bodies. Officer Baker was first on the scene.”

Investigation, with help from the SBI and the office of Sheriff Lane Carter, determined that Bustamonte murdered Santana Sanchez — his former girlfriend and mother of his 2-year-old — then shot Juan Sanchez before setting the house on fire and killing himself, Sheffield said.

“We were 99 percent sure who the bodies were,” he said. “We waited for confirmation in order to be certain before notifying families.”

The mother apparently had moved away from Bustamonte to live at the house with two cousins for protection. The older children are now living with their biological father in another county, the chief said.

“We are ruling this a murder-suicide,” Sheffield said. “The two bodies were in a front bedroom. The little boy was in a back part of the house where Mr. Pope found him. He took the boy out and didn’t try to get into the front part.”

Pope could not be reached for comment, but many in Robbins are calling him a hero for rushing into a burning home to save a child.