Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

Fratricide suspect facing new charges

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

A suspect in the disappearance and possible murder of south Fayette Realtor Thomas Martin — his own brother — faces serious jail time for a new felony burglary charge, police said.

William Kevin Dilbeck, 31, of Calhoun has been charged with a burglary that took place last May at 140 Lone Oak Drive. The burglary occurred in the same neighborhood where Martin and Dilbeck lived when Martin, 36, disappeared in June of last year, said Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department.

Jordan also confirmed that Dilbeck is suspected in the disappearance of Martin, citing possible “foul play.”

Dilbeck originally told police Martin left the area to go live with a flight attendant he had met. That story didn’t hold much water with detectives who noticed that Martin “left behind” his vehicle and many personal belongings.

Dilbeck has not been charged with murder in the case, but he has been charged with misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer relating to the “flight attendant” explanation for his brother’s disappearance.

Deputies have conducted searches in several areas trying to find Martin’s body, including a wooded area on the south end of Fayette County near where the half-brothers used to live, police said.

“He stands to look at 10 to 20 years on the charges we have against him, regardless of whether or not we find the body,” Jordan said.

A DNA sample secured from Dilbeck matched with a DNA sample from blood left at the scene of the burglary, linking him to the crime, Jordan said.

Dilbeck was denied bond by Magistrate Bob Ruppenthal at a hearing Friday morning, which wasn’t unusual since Dilbeck had been out on bond for another burglary charge, Jordan said.

Dilbeck has also been charged with entering an auto with intent to commit a theft for taking a gun from a truck parked at a residence in the Line Creek Estates subdivision where Dilbeck and Martin rented a house, police said.

Dilbeck was later found with that gun during a drug arrest in Lamar County for possession of methamphetamine, police said.

Dilbeck is also charged with falsely reporting a crime, a misdemeanor, after he reported tools stolen from a company van that were later pawned after he made the police report.

Martin and Dilbeck share the same mother but different fathers, police said.