On the evening of December 4, 2021, 62-year-old Edward Bruce Mears Jr., a musician and carpenter from New Church, Virginia, was found dead inside his Lankford Highway home after firefighters extinguished a residential blaze. Investigators determined his death was not accidental. An autopsy showed a gunshot wound to the face and a deep laceration to the neck, and the fire was treated as related to the killing.

The Virginia State Police and the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office say the investigation led to the arrest of 45-year-old Gary Joseph Fleig Sr. and his wife, Wendy Dawn Taylor, both of New Church. Authorities allege Fleig and Taylor entered Mears’ home intending to rob him; Fleig reportedly stabbed Mears, shot him with Mears’ own gun, and then set the house on fire. Damaged surveillance recovered at the scene reportedly captured both Fleig and Taylor inside the home for about an hour before the blaze.

If anyone saw unusual activity near Lankford Highway on the night of December 4, 2021, or has information about Mears’ murder, please come forward.