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Caldwell County Deputy murder suspect still at large

07:31 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Hannah Mitchell / The Charlotte Observer




Procession, visitation for slain deputy

CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. -- A man who Caldwell County authorities say shot and killed a sheriff's deputy Friday remained on the loose Tuesday evening.

The Caldwell sheriff's office, which held a receiving Tuesday afternoon in honor of slain rookie Deputy Adam William Klutz, got help from police agencies in other counties in its search for fugitive Skip Brinkley.

On Tuesday, a McDowell County Sheriff's Office cruiser negotiated the curvy roads around Hibriten Mountain near Brinkley's property, as Caldwell officers attended the receiving at Mountain Grove Baptist Church.

Investigators say Brinkley, who recently changed his name from Larry Wayne Brucke Jr., shot Klutz in the head after the officer responded to a 911 hang-up call from Brinkley's home. Klutz died early Saturday. Lt. Chris Martin, backing up Klutz, was shot three times in the chest but survived because he was wearing a bullet-proof vest.

Rewards of up to $20,000 are being offered by the FBI and U.S. Marshal Service, in addition to $5,000 from the governor's office, for information leading to Brinkley's capture.

If you have information on Brinkley's whereabouts, call the Caldwell sheriff's office at 828-758-2324.

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