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Local man person of interest in Wilson County death
a mooney jr w l
MOONEY

 

A 38-year-old DeKalb County resident has been identified sought as a "person of interest" in a possible Wilson County murder investigation was apprehended by Rutherford County authorities after a pursuit on Aug. 30.

 

Alan Mooney, Jr. of Old Snow Hill Road, is being held for questioning in connection with a fire at the home of his father Alan Mooney, Sr., where a body, later identified as Alan Mooney Sr., 62, was found.

 

According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, his department has been called on to help with the investigation. "We have assisted in the case as far as doing some searches and things at his residence. That's all that we've done with it," Ray said.

 

A fire was reported at Alan Mooney Sr.'s home on Armstrong Road in the Statesville area at about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 Unidentifiable human remains were discovered at the scene, Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan told the media. "We’re working this as an arson," Bryan said, citing "suspicious circumstances" in the case.

 

"We are releasing the name of the person (Alan Mooney, Sr.) that resided at the home, who we cannot locate. We have recovered remains at the house," Bryan said.

 

The sheriff said his department is working with state Bomb and Arson, Middle Tennessee State University Anthropology Department and the State Medical Examiner to identify the body.

 

Authorities began searching for Mooney, Jr. on the afternoon of the fire, but were apparently unable to locate him. He was reportedly spotted in a vehicle sometime around midnight, but fled into Rutherford County on Highway 96.

 

Spike strips were deployed on two occasions in Rutherford County, but the Mooney still did not stop. "It was a low-speed pursuit," Bryan said, since the tires on the vehicle had been punctured by the spike strips.

 

Officers from Wilson County, the Murfreesboro Police Department, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol were involved in the pursuit.

 

Bryan said Mooney Jr. struck another vehicle at an intersection in Murfreesboro, where he was taken into custody and charged with reckless endangerment and assault on an officer. He is being under a $90,000 bond Rutherford County.

 

Bryan has been in contact with the District Attorney’s Office and expects to present evidence in the case to the Wilson County Grand Jury, which will be in session next week. "We’ve been consulting with the District Attorney’s Office, and we’ll continue consulting. We’ll probably go before the grand jury in the next few weeks and go from there," Bryan said

 

The State Medical Examiner’s Office and the Middle Tennessee State University anthropology department helped confirm Mooney’s identity because of the extent the body was burned.

 

"We thought it was him, and now that we have determined that, we can move forward with our case," Bryan said.

 

Mooney's brother, Richard J. Mooney, 36, of Watertown was found not guilty in DeKalb County two years ago in the death of Robert Senick, 63, whose body was found in the burned rubble of his Liberty home in 2009. He is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence for a Rutherford County car jacking.