Murder suspect: 'I will take down anyone who gets in my way'

A Fort Drum soldier identified as Joshua S. Hunter, 20, is being held without bail in Scioto County Jail, Portsmouth, Ohio, in connection with the murders of two fellow Fort Drum soldiers earlier this week in Evans Mills.

A warrant charging two counts of second-degree murder - “intentional murder” - has been issued for his arrest, District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert said. The victims, identified as Diego Valbuena, 23, and Waide T. James, 20, died from multiple stab wounds, Sheriff John P. Burns said Wednesday. Court documents allege that he acted alone, Mrs. Intschert said.

Mrs. Intschert declined comment when asked at a press conference if the means of the murders indicates a crime of rage. She declined to say if a murder weapon has been recovered.

Hunter is expected to waive extradition when he is arraigned as a fugitive from justice Thursday morning in Portsmouth, Ohio, Municipal Court, according to the Scioto County Sheriff's Department.

The arraignment will be by video, meaning he will be in jail while being addressed by the court.

Capt. David S. Hall of that agency said some items were impounded following Hunter's arrest at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday at a Days Inn at Wheelersburg, Ohio, but he declined to elaborate, not wanting to impede in the investigation by Jefferson County authorities.

Sheriff Burns confirmed that the vehicle police were looking for Tuesday in connection with the investigation was in Hunter's “possession” when he was arrested. Hunter is the “person of interest” that was referred to Tuesday, Sheriff Burns said.

A reporter with the Portsmouth Daily Times said he was told New York State Police alerted the Ohio Highway Patrol that Hunter was possibly in Scioto County, and the Highway Patrol forwarded the information to the sheriff's office. Hunter was subsequently taken into custody without incident, the reporter was told.

Autopsies were conducted on the bodies of the two murdered men Wednesday afternoon. Results were not available later in the day.

Mr. James was from North Carolina, and Mr. Valbuena from Florida, Sheriff Burns said.

After their unit commander reported the men missing, the two were found dead by a deputy sheriff at about noon Tuesday in their apartment on Fox Hollow Run at The Meadows Apartments. The murders occurred sometime between Sunday and Monday, Mrs. Intschert said. One victim was downstairs, the other in an upstairs bedroom. The sheriff and DA declined to say which victim was on which floor.

The killings came a little more than three weeks after an Army psychiatrist was accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas.

Hunter's father, Jim Hunter of Ona, W.Va., told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that his son spent 15 months in Iraq and had been back for about four months. He said he had seen his son in October and "seemed to be doing good."

Jim Hunter described his son as "a pretty outgoing kid" who was married, but had no children, and lived off base.

Sheriff's deputies in New York, he said, had not provided much information. "They told us not to come up until they get him from wherever he's at," he said.

In September, James and Valbuena graduated from Fort Drum's Warrior Leaders Course, which teaches skills required to lead, train, fight and accomplish the mission as noncommissioned officers. They and Hunter all listed each other as friends on their MySpace pages.

Valbuena was from Port Saint Lucie, Fla., according to a search of public records. On his MySpace page, he wrote that he was born in Bogota, Columbia, and had joined the military in August 2008. He also wrote that he'd been deployed to Iraq.

"We're just trying to digest the news," Valbuena's brother, Sergio Valbuena, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "It's really hard."

The soldiers' hometowns, ranks and units also were not immediately released by officials at Fort Drum.

A man who was picked up for questioning Tuesday afternoon in the investigation was later released, he said. State police investigators detained the person after finding him at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Salmon Run Mall, but he was not charged in the case, the sheriff said.

All persons who had recently lived in the apartment where the murders occurred have been interviewed and accounted for. Watertown police detectives conducted some of the interviews, along with the Army Criminal Investigation Division, sheriff's detectives and state police.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FROM JOSHUA HUNTER'S MYSPACE PAGE:"i dont need anyone but me, i am cold and heartless, noone can hurt me, noone can touch me, in doing so i will forever be truly alone. i accept. f*** fairytails and illusions of grandeur. unnhappiness can be a way of life. but im not gonna be one of those little bitches who kills themselves i will take down anyone who gets in my way by any means necessary. dont f*** with me and you have nothing to worry about but if you have at one point f***ed with me. watch your mutherf***in ass cause i will not be stopped until i get my revenge. i am angry at the world and i will take it out on anyone so F*** OFF. noone is what they seem, we all have our masks, mine is gone. come take a look."