The primary suspect in the murder of an elderly couple from Dover has been arrested.
Kentucky State Police captured Michael Herald, 48, in Hazard, Kentucky. He was driving the victim's 2015 Ford Explorer.
Herald is now charged with two counts of First Degree Murder for the deaths of Nancy and John Engelhart.
Nancy was 73 years old; John was 76.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the couple had hired Herald as a handyman at their McIntosh Road home.
Deputies responded to a welfare check because neighbors said they hadn't seen the homeowners for a while and the mail was piling up.
"That's not something Nancy would normally do," Shawn Macintosh, the Engelhart's neighbor said.
A search of the property revealed two dead bodies in a shed near the home.
Officials believe the murders happened earlier this week.
Macintosh says people living nearby knew Herald fairly well.
The son of a family friend, he lived on the Macintosh's property in a mobile home for a short time in 2004 and would do handyman work for people living in the area.
Macintosh says Herald had a drug problem, so they asked him to leave their property 12 years ago.
He hadn't seen Herald until three weeks ago when he knocked on their door asking for a place to stay.
"We don't have any room for you to stay, you can't stay here," Mcintosh remembered saying.
He says they drove Herald to his sister's home in Tampa who also didn't want him to stay with her.
A few days later, Herald showed up again telling Macintosh that the Engelhart's had offered him work. Macintosh says John Engelhart was going through chemotherapy.
"So he needed the help," he said.
The Macintosh family allowed Engelhart to stay with them for a few days after that.
Earlier this week everyone disappeared. Macintosh thought the Engelhart's may be in the hospital, but after a few days became suspicious and called for a welfare check.
Macintosh says he knew Herald had a criminal past, but didn't think he was a violent person.
"It just doesn't seem to be what we would typically thing he would be capable of," he said.
Herald has been arrested several times for charges ranging from theft to battery and domestic violence.
Nancy Engelhart was a retired high school social studies and history teacher. She taught at Hillsborough High School from 1964 until 1994.
-----
This story has been edited to clarify the license plate tag number after an HCSO update.
-----
