On the evening of Sunday, March 22, 1992, a customer at Sugarloaf Mountain Market, located at 23800 Old Hundred Road in Comus, found the owner, 57-year-old James Essel, deceased inside the store– having been stabbed multiple times. Twenty-eight years later, in February 2020, the man whose DNA linked him to the murder was killed by Virginia Beach Police.
Investigators attempted to arrest 51-year-old Hans Huitz in February 2020 after determining that his DNA matched evidence from the 1992 crime scene in Comus, Maryland. Huitz, who had relocated to Virginia Beach in 2014, was the main suspect. A search warrant was issued for his DNA, which was analyzed in a Maryland laboratory and matched to the profile recovered from the scene.
Arrest warrants for Huitz were soon issued, and U.S. Marshals along with Virginia Beach Police worked to take him into custody on February 12, 2020. The Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s report stated that officers attempted a vehicle block as Huitz tried to drive away from his residence. According to the report, Huitz raised a handgun and placed it in his mouth before drawing another gun and switching it between his mouth and the side of his head…