Buncombe County Sheriff: 4th person charged in Arden double homicide

Karen Chávez, Asheville Citizen Times
·2 min read
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office has now charged four people in connection to the deaths of two people at a gas station on Mills Gap Road Dec. 19.
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office has now charged four people in connection to the deaths of two people at a gas station on Mills Gap Road Dec. 19.

ASHEVILLE - A fourth person has been charged in connection to a double homicide Dec. 19 in Arden, where two people were found apparently shot to death in a car outside a Shell gas station and QuikMart, according to a news release from the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office.

The afternoon of Dec. 22, detectives with the Sheriff's Office arrested and charged Christine Nicole Moore, 34, with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, according to a news release.

Moore is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility on a $255,000 secured bond.

"She was apprehended today by the Columbus, NC Police Department with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Task Force," the news release stated.

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This is the fourth individual charged in relation to the killings of two individuals on Monday at a gas station on Mills Gap Road.

Sandy Elizabeth Torrey, 26, and Bryan Emmanuel Khopkar, 39, were found dead Dec. 19 in a car parked in an Arden-area Shell gas station and QuickMart on Mills Gap Road.

Two suspects were identified shortly after Torrey and Khopkar were found before 7 a.m. Dec. 19.

Pictured are Sandy Torrey, left, and Lauren Carver. The photo of Torrey's child is covered for privacy purposes, Carver said. Torrey was found dead Dec. 19 in a car outside an Arden gas station.
Pictured are Sandy Torrey, left, and Lauren Carver. The photo of Torrey's child is covered for privacy purposes, Carver said. Torrey was found dead Dec. 19 in a car outside an Arden gas station.

Cody Wayne Dockins, of Buncombe County, and Godiet Corral, 32, of Henderson County, were both charged that day with first-degree murder related to the incident.

Corral was arrested Dec. 19 and also charged with two counts of felony first-degree murder. He is being held in the Buncombe jail without bond.

Dockins was arrested about 9:30 p.m. Dec. 21 in Rutherford County, according to a Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office news release, which listed U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol as the arresting agencies.

Dockins was charged with felony first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of Khopkar and Torrey. According to previous Citizen Times reporting, he appeared in court Dec. 22 before Judge Edwin Clontz and said he wanted the court to appoint him legal representation. Buncombe County Chief Public Defender Sam Snead spoke privately with Dockins and deferred when asked if he wanted to comment for Dockins. His bond was not altered.

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A third individual, Russell Allen Squire, 34, of Fletcher, faces one count of felony accessory after the fact. He is in the downtown Asheville jail on bonds totaling $250,110. He has a Jan. 10 court date.

Torrey's and Khopkar's deaths are the third and fourth homicides in Buncombe County in 2022. The Sheriff's Office investigated seven homicides in 2021, according to spokesperson Aaron Sarver.

Karen Chávez is Interim Executive Editor for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Tips, comments, questions? Call 828-236-8980, email, KChavez@CitizenTimes.com or follow on Twitter @KarenChavezACT.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Double homicide south of Asheville sees fourth suspect charged