Sgt. Gregory Keith Martin was murdered during a traffic stop on I-77 on Oct. 5, 1996.
The Jonesville Police Department on Oct. 3 at 11 p.m. announced that an arrest had been made in relation to the 1996 murder of Jonesville officer Sgt. Gregory Keith Martin.
The Jonesville Police Department, the Elkin Police Department, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation joined forces on the investigation to obtain information that has led to the arrest of Scott Vincent Sica.
According to a case file on America’s Most Wanted, on Oct. 4, 1997, Sgt. Gregory Keith Martin was working the nightshift for Jonesville Police Department. Martin reported to dispatch that he was investigating a suspicious person behind a strip mall.
According to the case file, Martin followed the individual to a red Dodge pickup truck onto I-77 and pulled him for a traffic stop. A state trooper who had heard Martin’s reports on dispatch offered to help him, and Martin requested the trooper come to the traffic stop out for backup.
The trooper arrived to find Martin lying on the side of I-77 with multiple gunshot wounds to his head. Martin died at 2:42 a.m. on Oct. 5, 1996.
The suspect fled the scene before the trooper arrived and the red Dodge truck was later found abandoned in Elkin. The truck had been stolen from Ramsey Motor Dealership in Princeton, W. Va. The truck possessed stolen tags from a Chevrolet Blazer in Princeton, W. Va. that were reported stolen three days earlier.
Once the suspect abandoned the truck he allegedly stole a company van from The Lucia Company in Elkin. That van was later found abandoned in a Home Depot parking lot in Gastonia, NC.
In May 2011 the FBI pledged an additional $100,000 to the existing $30,000 reward for any person supplying information leading to an arrest in the death of Martin.
According to an article posted on Naplesnews.com in Naples, Fla., Sica “was named on a warrant for first-degree murder.”
According to the article Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida was working with the Jonesville Police Department, the N.C. SBI, and the FBI to close the case. The article states that Sica was arrested at his home around 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 3.
The Jonesville Police Department said no other information is available at this time. Another press conference is scheduled for 11 p.m. on Oct. 5, prior to the annual memorial service held in Martin’s honor each year.
According to a Tribune article written in June, the Jonesville Police Department had a cold case unit set aside to work on the case. Its members included Ron Perry, retired SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) agent; John Foster, retired SBI agent who was one of the original investigators on the case; and two FBI agents, Mike Garcia and Jim Meade. According to The Tribune article, thed investigators evaluate the information that comes in and chase down each lead, no matter how insignificant or bogus the tip may seem.
The cold case unit would meet every Tuesday to discuss the ongoing investigation. New leads would come in regularly, often from citizens who have seen or heard something about it on the news. Perry told a Tribune reporter in an interview a few months ago that about 15 leads have come in since January of this year.
Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@heartlandpublications.com.
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