Suspect charged in Christmas Day murder in Scott County
GATE CITY — An arrest was made by Scott County authorities Friday evening in connection with the Christmas Day murder of a Nickelsville man.
Brian Large, 38, of Nickelsville, was taken into custody just after 6 p.m. by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office on a charge of first-degree murder for his alleged role in the Dec. 25, 2011, shooting death of Greg Jerome Hale, 49.
Large was also charged with a single count of DUI.
“We got enough information today to get a search warrant and arrest warrant for him,” Scott County Sheriff John Puckett said. “We were going to conduct the search warrant and were looking for him when we met him in a vehicle. We stopped the vehicle he was driving, and he was intoxicated.”
Puckett said the stop was made about a mile from Large’s house in the Valley Creek section of the county.
“There were a couple of vehicles (at his residence) waiting on other officers to get there,” Puckett said. “The officer was sitting there, and he drove on through a stop sign. They didn’t even know it was him. They just saw a car run a stop sign and keep on driving, so they stopped him.”
Authorities began investigating Hale’s death after he was found by family members Christmas Day in his residence located at 302 Addington Frame Road near Nickelsville.
Puckett said Hale was shot twice in the head.
Puckett declined to comment on the type of gun used in the shooting, or a possible motive for the murder, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.
“It’s still an ongoing investigation, so we can’t release too much further information,” he said.
Large was taken before a magistrate following his arrest and is being held without bond in the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Duffield. He is expected to be arraigned next week in Scott County Circuit Court.
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