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Couple sought in connection with Catawba Co. homicide captured in Maryland

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — A man and woman who had been sought in connection with a homicide in Catawba County have been captured in Maryland, according to the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said James Rinkines and his girlfriend, Rose Shutz, were taken into custody by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

The pair were taken without incident after a traffic stop.

The pair had been on the run after police found 36-year-old Tony Ly dead outside a home Wednesday night on Whitener Road, just south of Hickory.

Both are being held at the Baltimore Detention Center.

Rinkines was charged with murder and Shutz was charged with accessory after the fact.

Authorities had considered Rinkines "armed and extremely dangerous."

When the sheriff's deputies first got to the homicide scene Wednesday night, they thought that Rinkines was still in the area.

For more than eight hours, deputies had the driveway leading to the home blocked by a patrol cruiser. Outside the home, deputies found Ly dead.

Neighbors, including Richard Jahn, didn't hear the gunfire, but he said he and his wife often hear shots coming from a high-powered weapon in the area.

"Probably be a little bit more on guard for just in case purposes,” Jahn said. “Maybe keep the gun a little bit more handy. I'm not going to wander around here myself, that's for sure."

Deputies aren't releasing a motive, but said they don't believe the shooting was random.

"I'd like to see him behind bars,” Linda Jahn said.

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