kaorder1999
10-23-2006, 09:35 AM
Police: Suspect got $150 to kill
Hurst: Putt-Putt boss pleaded for his life, affidavit says
05:56 AM CDT on Monday, October 23, 2006
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
Hours after the robbery and execution-style murder of a Hurst Putt-Putt manager, 22-year-old Paul David Storey got paid for his alleged role in the crime, police documents say.
His take: $150.
In an arrest warrant affidavit released Saturday, police detailed the information Mr. Storey gave them about the robbery and fatal shooting of 28-year-old Jonas Paul Cherry last Monday.
Mr. Cherry had already complied with the robbers' demands and unloaded a safe and filled a bag with cash when he began pleading for his life. As he knelt on the floor of the Putt-Putt and asked for mercy that morning, the muzzle of a gun was placed to the back of his head.
He was still talking to his killer when the trigger was pulled, the affidavit said.
After Mr. Storey's Ford Explorer was caught on a surveillance tape the morning of the shooting, he was brought in for questioning by police on Thursday.
Mr. Storey, a former employee at the Putt-Putt, initially told police that he was outside the business about the time Mr. Cherry died. He told police he heard gunshots and saw a man leaving the building with a black bag and a pistol.
He changed his story the next day and told police he and four other men were involved in the robbery.
According to the affidavit, as one man watched from Mr. Storey's Explorer, Mr. Storey and three other men rang the bell at the business' back door before the facility opened that morning. When Mr. Cherry answered, they rushed him and gained entrance. One man stood watch at the back door. Another went into an office to get surveillance tapes.
One man led Mr. Cherry by the back of the shirt to the clubhouse, where he opened the safe and filled the bag with money. The man who had retrieved the surveillance tapes approached and placed them in the bag with the money. Police would later find that one surveillance tape – the one that captured Mr. Storey's Explorer – had been left behind in the office.
After Mr. Cherry gave the men the money, he asked them not to hurt him. According to the affidavit, that's when the unidentified gunman "executed him as he was speaking."
Mr. Storey told police another man then shot Mr. Cherry several times to "finish him."
Mr. Storey was arrested Friday night at his Fort Worth home. He was being held Sunday in the Hurst jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on a capital murder charge. Another suspect, Mark Dewayne Porter, was being held Sunday on unrelated charges. The affidavit did not detail what, if any, role Mr. Porter played in the robbery, but it did say he also received $150 hours afterwards.
Sgt. Craig Teague, Hurst police spokesman, could not be reached for comment Sunday. The names of other suspects were blacked out in Mr. Storey's arrest warrant affidavit.
An employee found Mr. Cherry's body, lying in the fetal position, later that morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police found several spent casings from a 9 mm firearm at the scene.
According to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office, Mr. Cherry also received gunshot wounds in the front of his head and the back of his legs. His family, who declined to comment last week, could not be reached Sunday.
A Putt-Putt employee who declined to be identified said Sunday that the Keller resident's death was tough on the staff because he was extremely well liked.
"We really are a small little family here, so to lose someone who is almost like a parent is hard," the employee said.
The staffer said he was "the best boss."
"He was a unique individual person that's going to be hard to get over," he said.
Hurst: Putt-Putt boss pleaded for his life, affidavit says
05:56 AM CDT on Monday, October 23, 2006
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
Hours after the robbery and execution-style murder of a Hurst Putt-Putt manager, 22-year-old Paul David Storey got paid for his alleged role in the crime, police documents say.
His take: $150.
In an arrest warrant affidavit released Saturday, police detailed the information Mr. Storey gave them about the robbery and fatal shooting of 28-year-old Jonas Paul Cherry last Monday.
Mr. Cherry had already complied with the robbers' demands and unloaded a safe and filled a bag with cash when he began pleading for his life. As he knelt on the floor of the Putt-Putt and asked for mercy that morning, the muzzle of a gun was placed to the back of his head.
He was still talking to his killer when the trigger was pulled, the affidavit said.
After Mr. Storey's Ford Explorer was caught on a surveillance tape the morning of the shooting, he was brought in for questioning by police on Thursday.
Mr. Storey, a former employee at the Putt-Putt, initially told police that he was outside the business about the time Mr. Cherry died. He told police he heard gunshots and saw a man leaving the building with a black bag and a pistol.
He changed his story the next day and told police he and four other men were involved in the robbery.
According to the affidavit, as one man watched from Mr. Storey's Explorer, Mr. Storey and three other men rang the bell at the business' back door before the facility opened that morning. When Mr. Cherry answered, they rushed him and gained entrance. One man stood watch at the back door. Another went into an office to get surveillance tapes.
One man led Mr. Cherry by the back of the shirt to the clubhouse, where he opened the safe and filled the bag with money. The man who had retrieved the surveillance tapes approached and placed them in the bag with the money. Police would later find that one surveillance tape – the one that captured Mr. Storey's Explorer – had been left behind in the office.
After Mr. Cherry gave the men the money, he asked them not to hurt him. According to the affidavit, that's when the unidentified gunman "executed him as he was speaking."
Mr. Storey told police another man then shot Mr. Cherry several times to "finish him."
Mr. Storey was arrested Friday night at his Fort Worth home. He was being held Sunday in the Hurst jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on a capital murder charge. Another suspect, Mark Dewayne Porter, was being held Sunday on unrelated charges. The affidavit did not detail what, if any, role Mr. Porter played in the robbery, but it did say he also received $150 hours afterwards.
Sgt. Craig Teague, Hurst police spokesman, could not be reached for comment Sunday. The names of other suspects were blacked out in Mr. Storey's arrest warrant affidavit.
An employee found Mr. Cherry's body, lying in the fetal position, later that morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police found several spent casings from a 9 mm firearm at the scene.
According to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office, Mr. Cherry also received gunshot wounds in the front of his head and the back of his legs. His family, who declined to comment last week, could not be reached Sunday.
A Putt-Putt employee who declined to be identified said Sunday that the Keller resident's death was tough on the staff because he was extremely well liked.
"We really are a small little family here, so to lose someone who is almost like a parent is hard," the employee said.
The staffer said he was "the best boss."
"He was a unique individual person that's going to be hard to get over," he said.