Gerry King has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father, George King, 63, of Sharon, a man remembered for, among other things, treating his dog, Brady, to egg salad sandwiches and burgers.
George King, a truck driver who lived on Staleyville Road, a shortcut between Routes 10 and 20, was buried Saturday in the Van Hornesville Cemetery.
Gerry King, 37, of Carlisle Road, Sprakers, was arraigned on the second-degree murder charges in Sharon Court Wednesday after a manhunt found him and his girlfriend, Joleen Henderson, in Norfolk, Connecticut, where she has family, just before noon last Tuesday.
George King’s body had been discovered the day before at about 5:30pm by a neighbor he’d been asked to check on him after he’d failed to show up for work.
Police said Gerry King was arrested after a Connecticut trooper stopped the 1995 Plymouth Voyager mini-van he was driving at 11am last Tuesday on Route 44 in Norfolk; three other people were in the car.
Gerry King waived his right to oppose extradition, they said, and with the passengers, was held at Connecticut Troop B barracks in North Canaan, Connecticut for questioning until being was picked up by New York State troopers and returned to NYS.
According to a copy of the arrest warrant for Gerry King published in the online version of the Register Citizen newspaper of Torrington, Connecticut, and obtained by the Times-Journal, New York State Police told Connecticut Troopers “that they had a written statement from a 15-year-old juvenile witness that stated on Sunday, November 15, 2009, Gerry King came home looking like he had been in a fight.
“His hand was swollen and [he] had bruises on his chest. Gerry King stated to the juvenile, ‘He’s dead. I killed him. I killed that piece of [expletive deleted by the Times-Journal].’ The juvenile stated that he was referring to the deceased, George King, Gerry King also requested the juvenile hide his shoes that contained blood evidence,” according to the arrest warrant.
The warrant also indicates that Gerry King “has a reported history of mental health issues and a prior arrest for assault toward a police officer with a weapon.”
According to an autopsy Tuesday at the Albany Medical Center, police said, George King died of blunt force trauma.
Troopers have not yet identified a murder weapon or a motive and said an investigation is continuing.
Gerry King remains in Schoharie County Jail.
George King’s Staleyville Road home is bordered by dairy farms; few there lock their doors—something neighbors said they were reconsidering.
People who knew George King from the Sharon Stewart’s, where he was a regular, remembered him “as one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. He’d do anything for you.”
Born in Jordanville in 1946, George King was a 1965 graduate of Owen D. Young Central School and served in the United States Army after graduation.
A lifelong truck driver, he most recently worked for Hilltop Farms of Albany delivering feed.
In an online guestbook for George King posted by the Lenz & Betz Funeral Home, Canajoharie, he’s remembered as a good-natured jokester and a hard-working, friendly man, who even more than his coffee, enjoyed cheeseburgers, fries, and banana splits at the Dairy Carnival Diner on Route 20, Esperance twice a week during the season, always ordering a plain burger for his dog, Brady.
“He would be the first one we looked for when we reopen next year. He always gave us a hug and a kiss on the cheek before he left,” said one guestbook entry.
George King’s wife of 31 years, Mae, died in October 2007.
He was also pre-deceased by Brady.
Gerry King is not listed among the survivors in his father’s obituary.