Warrants: Blood, crossbow found inside charred Granville County couple's home

Blood was found on the back deck steps and throughout the master bedroom, according to the search warrants. A blood-stained crossbow with two of its four blades missing was also found in the home, along with an empty 1-gallon can of camp fuel.

What was missing from the Granville County home on N.C. Highway 96 near the Oak Hill community was its owners, Jerome and Dora Faulkner. While authorities investigated the fire, they were notified that the Faulkers’ Chevrolet Silverado was located in West Virginia – with their bodies in the truck bed.

Edward Watson Campbell, 54, and his son, Eric Alexander Campbell, 21, both of Alvin, Texas, are accused of driving a stolen Chevrolet Suburban from Texas to North Carolina, killing the Faulkners inside their home, setting the elderly couple’s home on fire, stealing their pickup truck and shooting two police officers during a traffic stop in West Virginia.

Investigators collected dozens of items from the Silverado, including a crossbow, a Clorox pump sprayer, two .38-caliber bullets and blood-stained sheets, according to a search warrant.

Detectives believe the killings happened between 7 p.m. New Year’s Eve and 7 a.m. New Year’s Day, according to an arrest warrant.

Jerome Faulker, 73, a retired volunteer fire chief, was threatened with a crossbow, according to search warrants. What remains unknown is how he and his wife, 62, a registered nurse, were killed. The couple’s two dogs were killed with an unknown sharp object, the documents said.

Cellphones and jewelry were taken from the home, and Edward Campbell is also accused of using Jerome Faulker’s credit card, the warrants allege.

Investigators believe the couple was randomly targeted and that the motive was robbery.

Edward and Eric Campbell are each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony cruelty to animals, robbery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree burglary, arson, larceny of a motor vehicle, identity theft and financial card theft.

Both men also face charges in West Virginia stemming from the shootout, which wounded two officers who tried to pull over the stolen SUV. Edward Campbell was shot in his leg during the incident.

Edward Campbell waived extradition and was brought to Granville County on Jan. 16. Eric Campbell did not waive extradition and remains in police custody in Greenbrier County, W.Va.

Granville County District Attorney Michael D. Waters has said he would present the Granville County charges to a grand jury on Jan. 26.

County residents are still taking about the killings, which have led to increased business for Pat Bradsher, owner of Duke and Pat's Gun Shop in Oxford.

"We have seen the sales go up in handguns and home security, like shotguns," she said. "What happened, it would make people feel better."