Tazewell County man charged with killing parents

    After hundreds of leads and tips, a son in Tazewell County is charged with murdering his parents.

Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt said, "Yesterday, Christopher Dean Looney who is age 32 from the Belfast area of Russell County, was taken into custody and has been charged with two counts of capital murder."

Christopher Looney is the only child of Harvey and Valarie Looney. They were killed in March of 2009. Police never said they had a suspect, not even a person of interest.

Wednesday, Christopher Looney was arrested. Turns out detectives had been talking to him for years.

"Throughout the last few years we've interviewed, looked at different people, said Sheriff Hieatt, 'followed up every tip that took us to different states and all around but inevitably it all came back to Mr. Looney."

The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office had been under intense pressure to make an arrest. Thursday, law enforcement said a knife was used to kill both parents.

"This was a heinous crime and there's no doubt about it, added Commonwealth Attorney Dennis Lee, 'I'm not able to go into specifics but this was a brutal murder."

An employee discovered the dead couple as he opened the restaurant for business.

Daniel Morrison owns Pizza Plus. He says after the killings, they painted and remodeled, but will never forget, he said "The thought that comes to mind about the day, just the sheer travesty. A husband and wife, two employees that have been working for us for over 8 years, to lose them all and end like that."

Police said Thursday, as many as 12 people were watched closely during the investigation, and they used whatever resources were needed, including an FBI profiler.

An interesting note here, investigators say the crush of crime-solving cop shows has made the public impatient for answers. Lee added,"When you can see a murder occur at 905 and it's solved by 948, then they feel that real life is or should be the same way, and that's not the case."

If convicted, Christopher Looney could face the death penalty,