"It was a brutal murder," arrest made in 4 year old murder case - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

"Brutal murder" investigation comes to a close in 4 year old case

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By Lauren Hensley, Reporter - email

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CLAYPOOL HILL -
Next month will mark the four year anniversary of the tragic deaths of a Tazewell County couple. Harvey and Valerie Looney, a husband and wife from Claypool Hill Virginia were murdered in 2009.

The couple were both workers at Pizza Plus in Claypool Hill and they were violently murdered at that location after work. Back in 2009, Deputies combed through evidence trying to figure out who took the lives of Harvey and Valerie Looney. Their murder would remain unsolved for four years.

"It's been very frustrating, leading to dead ends," said Tazewell County Sheriff, Brian Hieatt.

After countless man-hours and four years of investigating, the clues lead to the arrest of the couples only son 32-year-old Christopher Looney. Daniel Morrison, a longtime friend of the Looneys and the owner of Pizza Plus, has been waiting all this years to hear this news. The first thing he did was cry out and get a hold of the employee who found the Looneys bodies.

"The first thing I did was speak with the Sheriffs Department and than I needed to call the woman who found the body she needed to know. It's hard, but it's closure," said Morrison.

Harvey's body was discovered in the back of the building and Valerie's near the office inside.
The bodies were discovered on March 30, the day would have been their 29th wedding anniversary. The sheriff said this is a case he vowed to solve because of how horrific the crime was.

"It was a brutal murder. It was a tragic murder. Something that took a lot of time to do," Sheriff Hieatt said.

Though Sheriff Hieatt was not in that role in 2009, he vowed 14 months ago he would catch the Looney's killer.

He said this arrest brings some closure to the Looney family and entire Claypool Hill community who have all been wondering these years will someone pay for this violence.

Christopher Looney being charged with two counts of capital murder.  He is the only son of Harvey and Valerie Looney.  No motive has been released in this case.