Double homicide victims identified; car tied to case found, man taken into custody
A 23-year-old Springfield man who was found in a vehicle tied to a double homicide in Springfield was arrested Monday on an unrelated Sangamon County warrant.
Sheriff Jack Campbell said Mark N. Crites, Jr., was sitting in the 2008 black Dodge Charger in Benld, about an hour south of Springfield, around 9:30 a.m.
Campbell confirmed that Crites was brought back to Springfield by Sangamon County detectives. Crites was arrested on an arson warrant and was being held in the Sangamon County Jail on a $1,000,000 bond.
Also Monday, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon identified John Norgaard, 67, and his wife, Gloria Norgaard, 69, as the double homicide victims found in their home in the 500 block of Southwind Road Sunday morning.
Preliminary autopsy findings showed John Norgaard died from multiple gunshot wounds and Gloria Norgaard died from a single gunshot wound.
The couple's bodies were discovered by a family member who called 911 at 8:01 a.m. Sunday, Campbell said.
Gillespie Police Chief Jared DePoppe said the Dodge Charger was found near the intersection of Maple and Cahokia streets, near Benld's city cemetery off Illinois 138.
DePoppe said "a concerned citizen" requested a well-being check "because they thought the situation with the vehicle was odd."
Crites was taken to the Gillespie police department until Sangamon County detectives arrived.
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Authorities were towing the Dodge Charger back to Springfield for processing.
"Anybody located in the vehicle would have been a person of interest in this case," Campbell said.
The sheriff's office had alerted the public Sunday that it was searching for the Charger in connection with the case.
Campbell did not comment when asked if a weapon associated with the double homicide had been found.
The deaths make for nine homicides in Sangamon County in 2022. Seven of those cases were being handled by Springfield Police.
Gillespie police have patrolled Benld, a town of about 1,400 in Macoupin County, under a contract since June 2020 after the town disbanded its police force.
"I told the caller these are the types of things we're glad the public calls about because you never know what you have," DePoppe said.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Vehicle tied to double homicide in Springfield located in Benld, IL
