Arrest made in Swansboro homicide

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - 66 year old John Giltz, Jr of Swansboro was arrested by the Swansboro Police Department and charged today with one count of open murder in the death of 50 year old Susan Zemlick.

Zemlick died Monday of a single gunshot wound at 832 Dogwood lane the home of John and his wife Helen Giltz.

Zemlick had been living with the Giltz family since October of last year.

 The Swansboro PD would not say what kind of gun was used in the murder and is still investigating to determine a motive. The department does not expect to make any other arrests in the case.

Giltz is currently in custody at the Onslow County Jail, he will make his first court appearance Friday morning.

Giltz's arrest today falls on his 66th birthday.

Monday's murder is only the second murder in Swansboro in the last 25 years.
Tony Rawlings

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - The Swansboro Police Department has identified the name of the victim of Monday's homicide.

Susan Zemlick was shot and killed at 832 Dogwood Lane Monday morning according to authoirities.

The homicide is still under investigation but police say they will release more details once an arrest is made.

Stay with Nine On Your Side for updates on the investigation.

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - Authorities in Swansboro continue to investigate a possible homicide this afternoon.

Dogwood Lane in Swanboro Heights is on its way back to being a quiet street in a peacful subdivision. A far cry from Monday, when the street was blocked by police baricades for a homicide investigation.

Today the only visible reminders of the scene are cones left behind by the Swansboro Police Department.

We spoke with a neighbor that is very close to the couple that lives at 832 Dogwood Lane. While she wouldn't speak with us on camera, she became emotional talking about the couple saying they were "very good people".

It happened yesterday at 832 Dogwood Lane in the Swansboro Heights neighborhood.

People in the neighborhood say they saw the crime scene investigation unit from the Onslow County Sheriff's Office remove a body from the home around two o'clock yesterday afternoon.

Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and at this point no arrests have been made.

Swansboro Police are handling the investigation, but details about the case have been slow to come forward. The Department is waiting to release the name of the victim until the next of kin can be notified.

Officials told us that Detective, Ken Jackson met with the Onslow County District Attorney today and that more details of the investigation would be released in the coming days.

Nine On Your Side is tracking the case as it develops. We will continue to update you as more details emerge.

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - Swansboro police are investigating a homicide at 832 Dogwood lane in Swansboro.

They say a shooting left one person dead, but have not identified the vicitm.

The neighborhood is quiet and calm now but that wasn't the case Monday afternoon.

"It was right around noon, they had lots of busyness around here and the block the road and were like ok that's something major really did happen,” said Michelle Tourjie, a neighbor of the victim.

Neighbors say they never expected something like this in their neighborhood.

“My husband said that there was a homicide, I was like no way, he said the coroner was outside and I was like say what?” said Tourjie.

Police have confirmed one person is dead, but have not released their identity.

Neighbors tell us a couple lived in the home but they haven't seen the husband since the police arrived.

Tourjie says she has no idea what could have happened.

“I grew up in this house and now I’m raising my kids here it's a great neighborhood, it's a really great community this is obviously a very isolated incident,” she says.

Detective Ken Jackson of the Swansboro Police Department says the investigation is ongoing at this point and the department will release a statement when they have compiled more facts.