A former FBI agent is speaking out about the murder of country music singer Spencer Hatcher’s mother.
Holly Hatcher is the mother of up-and-coming country singer Spencer Hatcher, a bluegrass-inspired country artist who just dropped his latest single “When She Calls Me Cowboy” last month. An investigation is still ongoing after the mother of an up-and-coming country music singer was killed during a brutal home invasion in Virginia earlier this month.
According to police, 41-year old Kevin Moses Walker broke into the Hatcher home on August 3 and fatally stabbed Holly Hatcher before being shot by her husband, Michael Hatcher. Authorities discovered that the story really started on August 1, when Walker rented a campsite at Endless Caverns in Virginia and even paid to take a tour of the caves later that day. He also went to Walmart and bought a sleeping bag and a knife.
The next day, police responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle near the caverns, while also discovering that the store at Endless Caverns had been broken into, apparently having been rammed by a vehicle. Nothing was stolen during the burglary, but authorities determined that Walker had entered both the store and the caves, and issued a felony warrant for his arrest.
Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said that at that time there was no indication that Walker was violent and that he had no history of arrest:
“There was no indication of any violence or potential for any violence from the offender that the Virginia State Police became aware of throughout that investigation.”
But late on Sunday, police received a call from Michael Hatcher about the home invasion, and found Walker deceased in the driveway after having been shot by Michael, while Holly Hatcher was inside deceased from stab wounds.
As you can see, the timeline of events is peculiar, to say the least. The attack has even been described as random, with authorities struggling to find a motive as to why Walker would have drove three hours away from his home and targeted the Hatcher family. Former FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam thinks that the attack being labeled as “random” might be exactly what the killer wanted people to think.
In an interview with Fox News, Gilliam questioned if the attack – and everything leading up to it – can be drawn up as a wrong-place, wrong-time tragedy:
“He drove specifically to where a place, a location was at, where there was a tourist location, where there were these caverns. He took a tour of the cavern. He reserved a camping spot. He went to Walmart and bought a sleeping bag and a knife. Those are very specific things … not random actions. So when I look at that, I know that part of what happened is not random.”
The former FBI agent went on to say that the vehicle crash seems to be a turning point in the story, and it shouldn’t be ignored.
Gilliam still wants to wait for the evidence from the investigation to pour in, but he can’t help but wonder if the crash played a factor in the attack. He also suggests that police see if Walker and the Hatchers ever crossed paths prior to the night that the killer attacked and killed Holly Hatcher in cold blood:
“We know that he did all these actions with structured behavior up until the point of a crash. And then his behavior became psychotic and random. So, I think it’s too early, and there’s not enough evidence from what I can see that it’s just to be determined to be a random attack.
They need to look at what the victims do and if they had any encounters with this guy earlier in the day, because also, if his typical way he operates, if he is a killer for instance, is to go somewhere, wander around in polite manner and then pick some victims and then eventually go get them. They could have met throughout that day.”
Hopefully, one day, we get some answers to all of the questions that surround this case.
For now, the Hatcher family is trying to heal from the devastating and sudden loss. Spencer Hatcher decided to step away from some concert dates he had committed to, and understandably so. The country artist also asked for privacy for himself and his family during this time:
“It’s with a heavy heart and overwhelming sadness that – due to a monumental loss in our family – I must cancel my upcoming shows at VOA Country Music Fest in Butler County, OH (8/8) and at Rockingham County Fair in Harrisonburg, VA (8/11 & 8/12). I appreciate everyone that has lent their support to me and my loved ones. We ask that everyone please respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hatcher family.
