An unidentified Patrick County, Va., man is believed to have aided a murder suspect in his attempt to escape authorities after allegedly gunning down four people in Mount Airy on Sunday.

An official of a motel in Henry County, Va., where Marcos Chavez Gonzalez was captured early Monday said Tuesday afternoon that a white male, between 25 and 30 years old, had rented a room for the suspect hours earlier.

Lt. Kimmy Nester of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that authorities there have determined that Gonzalez, 29, got a ride with someone else to the motel the night of the slayings and was using an assumed name at the time.

“That is being reviewed,” Nester said of the other person involved. “It’s under investigation as far as that party.”

Ben Patel, the manager of the Super 8 motel in Martinsville, said the man renting the room appeared nervous during the check-in process. “He put down the wrong address to begin with,” Patel said.

He added that when he tried to verify the man’s identification through the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, it turned up false — as well as the address he had been given. “We do not let anybody get a room without proper identification,” the motel manager explained.

“When I asked him why he put down the wrong name, he says he goes by different names,” Patel continued. The individual then supplied another identity and address, which proved to be correct after local authorities ran them through their system.

Patel declined to supply the man’s name and address Tuesday afternoon, saying he had provided the information to investigators as part of their inquiry.

However, Nester confirmed later Tuesday that the man who registered at the motel has a Patrick County address. Nester also did not provide the person’s name. “North Carolina authorities have dealt with that part of the investigation,” he said.

When asked about the suspected accessory Tuesday afternoon, Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson replied, “That’s something I’m not allowed to comment on at this point.”

The motel manager said the white male who came to the business was given a single room on the second floor because he had no idea anyone else would be staying there. At one point, that individual told him he wanted the room for at least two nights due to having a construction crew coming in to work on a project.

It is thought that Gonzalez occupied the room some time after the registration process, with Patel saying he never saw Gonzalez before his arrest. Henry County authorities had learned that the suspect was in their area, and possibly at the Super 8 motel, through North Carolina officers and a tip from a concerned citizen.

Gonzalez was the only person arrested at the motel room just before 4 a.m., after the establishment was surrounded by about 20 officers from Henry County, the city of Martinsville, the Virginia State Police, Mount Airy and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.

“He was obviously shocked that he had been tracked down that quick,” Nester added.

Patel had other guests on the second floor leave their rooms before the apprehension.

Henry County officers do not know why Gonzalez wound up in Martinsville, since he claimed to have never been there before.

Authorities in Virginia and elsewhere had been advised to be on the lookout for a pickup that Gonzalez fled the murder scene in, but he apparently arrived in Martinsville via a different vehicle. Also, the high-powered assault rifle believed to have been used in the murders was not recovered there, Nester said, and still had not been found at last report.

Gonzalez, who had been imprisoned previously in North Carolina on charges including the kidnapping of a minor and a probation violation, was returned to Surry County Monday afternoon after waiving extradition and is being held without privilege of bond.

Watson, the Mount Airy police chief, said Monday that he did not know if Gonzalez — who is charged with four counts of murder in Sunday’s shootings — is a legal resident of the United States. His address has been given as 146 Southridge Road, Mount Airy.

Probe Continues

The police chief said Tuesday afternoon that investigators are still trying to pinpoint what led to Sunday afternoon’s fatal shootings outside two Worth Street businesses, Wood’s TV Inc. and Chilton Insurance Group Inc.

“We’re just following up on the numerous leads that continue to come in,” Watson said. He added that information surrounding the case is “constantly” being received by police. “And we’re trying to follow up on each and every one of those.”

A variety of reports concerning a possible motive have been surfacing, including one that a love affair that went awry might have sparked the slayings that investigators have confirmed were not random. Based on another rumor, the murders involved a contract killing. However, no one but Gonzalez has been charged in the case so far.

Another possibility has been offered by a man who worked with one of the victims, who said Monday that the deaths stemmed from a simple misunderstanding that got out of hand.

“There’s different leads coming in as far as different possible motives, and we’re just following through,” the police chief said. Watson said he hoped to be able to shed more light on the case today.

Those killed Sunday included brothers Javier Manuel Martinez, 21, and Juan Manuel Martinez, 26; their cousin, Victor Alfonso Martinez-Jimemiz, 22; and Marcos Oviedo Aguilar, 22, a friend of the three. All lived in the Mount Airy-Surry County area.

Although some of those involved apparently resided near the shooting scene, police do not know why the incident happened in the Wood’s TV-Chilton Insurance parking lot in particular, which normally is isolated on a Sunday afternoon. About a dozen people witnessed the shootings, Watson has said.

Two of the victims died at the scene and the others at Northern Hospital of Surry County nearby.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.