Three Campobello residents arrested in cold murder case
Published 7:07 pm Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Three Campobello residents have been taken into custody and charged with murder in connection with a cold case from 2001.
Steven Lee McDowell, 35, of 410 Caldwell Road; LaWanda Gonzalez, 34 of 5650 Hwy. 357 and Gerald Elliseo Gonzalez, 36 of 5650 Hwy. 357, all in Campobello, were arrested by the Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office.
The Gonzalez couple were taken into custody last Friday and McDowell turned himself in yesterday morning after being sought by authorities and being considered armed and dangerous.
The case stems from the Nov. 15, 2001 murder of Michael Smith, of Spartanburg, whose body was found inside a burning vehicle off East Suber Road in Greer, S.C. Investigators determined that Smith died as a result of a gunshot wound.
The murder had remained unsolved until recent developments determined that the murder occurred in Spartanburg County, according to the sheriffs office.
The sheriffs office says McDowell turned himself in without incident after being urged by several friends to do so after seeing McDowell on several newscasts.
All three suspects are being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center.