A break in the case.
Police held a press conference today to announce a suspect has been arrested for the break-in at the home of retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, just a month after he and his wife and two children were killed in a tragic plane crash in North Carolina.
According to a police report from the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department, the burglary at Biffle’s Mooresville, North Carolina home was reported by Cathy Grossu, who was Biffle’s mother-in-law and the mother of his wife Cristina Grossu.
The report says there were signs of forced entry, and that $30,000 in cash and a backpack were taken from the home. And according to WBTV, guns and NASCAR memorabilia were also reportedly being investigated as missing from the home, with the sheriff’s office reporting that they were working with race teams in the area to attempt to locate missing property and determine whether or not it was stolen.
Detectives said at the time that they believed the burglar was someone with knowledge of the layout of the home, including where the security cameras and safe were located. They released surveillance video showing the individual, who appears to be a woman, moving throughout the home:
Then back in April, we also learned that the thieves apparently attempted to drain his bank accounts and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.
According to search warrants obtained by WBTV, authorities noticed suspicious activity on Biffle’s account after his death, including the changing of email addresses, phone numbers, and passwords, as well as fraudulent activity on his wife’s Venmo account. His bank account information was allegedly changed over the phone, and at least one check was cashed from a bank account for Biffle’s businesses.
There were also apparently multiple additional attempts to get into the bank accounts in person at bank branches “across state lines,” and police say that at least some of the attempts to access their accounts came before the break-in.
The search warrants describe the persons of interest as part of Biffle and Grossu’s “inner circle,” and while their names haven’t been officially reported, there’s plenty of online chatter about the individuals who are the subject of the investigation.
And it also revealed a disgusting email that was sent to Biffle the day after his death:
“I heard you dead, rest in hell.”
Earlier this year, authorities executed search warrants on a home in Denver, North Carolina, as well a business in Mooresville. None of the stolen property was recovered, but detectives said that they seized several items, including electronic devices, from the home. They were reportedly able to zero in on the home based on the license plate of a pickup truck used in the burglary, and also alleged that a woman at the home abruptly left town and skipped a previously-planned wedding when the surveillance video was released.
Well now, officials have announced what they called “the biggest break in the case” that they’ve had thus far.
Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell revealed today that they have charged 44-year old Terrell Williams of Georgia with the burglary at Biffle’s home.
According to the sheriff’s office, over two dozens search warrants have been issued in the case so far, and on July 29, police in Georgia contacted North Carolina authorities regarding Williams, who had been arrested on another burglary that was related to a high-profile homicide case.
After searching Williams’ home, authorities found items stolen from not only the Biffle residence, but also from break-ins elsewhere in North Carolina. Notably, when Williams was arrested in Georgia, he was wearing a ring that authorities say was “NASCAR memorabilia” that they were able to trace back to Biffle.
Police say that they have been in contact with NASCAR, who has helped throughout the investigation.
According to police, the Biffle burglary was part of a pattern from Williams of targeting homes of high-profile individuals that he knew wouldn’t be home based on headlines in the media:
“He used headlines, social media posts, different things to find out when people were and were not at home.”
Investigators also discovered a radio frequency detector, which they believe was used in the Biffle residence to locate cameras throughout the home.
Police also used cell phone analysis to determine that Williams was in the area at the time of the break-in, though they don’t believe he was the one who was physically inside the home and committed the burglary. Authorities say that they believe others are involved, potentially including family members of Williams:
“I feel fairly confident that there will be some additional charges.”
Detectives determined that after the break-in, Williams used cash from the burglary buy a vehicle in North Carolina, and were able to locate that vehicle after zeroing in on their suspect.
Williams is currently being held without bond in Cobb County, Georgia, where he is being held in connection with a burglary that was committed at the home of another individual connected with a high-profile murder. Police also found a weapon that was stolen from the home of a North Carolina police officer that was burglarized while the officer was hospitalized, though Williams hasn’t been charged yet in that case.
Charged with multiple felonies including second degree burglary, safecracking, money laundering, obtaining property by false pretenses, possession of burglary tools, larceny of firearms, and larceny after breaking and entering. He’s currently being held without bond in Cobb County, Georgia on the case down there, which reportedly involved the murder of someone connected with a Fortune 500 company, but Iredell County officials are asking that he be extradited to North Carolina to face charges related to the Biffle break-in.
Notably, the sheriff said that Williams had no connection to Biffle, and that the investigation into the hacking of Biffle’s accounts is still ongoing.
The so-called “white-collar” investigation, which Campbell says has stretched all the way to California, sounds like it may not be related at all to the break-in and may have simply been the case of two separate bad actors targeting the estate during a vulnerable time. Authorities have said they have a suspect in that case and that the investigation is ongoing, but that they’re still investigating whether it’s linked to Williams and the burglary.
It’s a shame that there are people out there targeting victims of tragedy like this, but hopefully everybody involved can be brought to justice sooner or later.
