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Warrants: Cary man found dead had been beaten, robbed

A 72-year-old man found dead in his car at a Cary shopping center a week ago was beaten and robbed, and fingerprints from a nearby car that was broken into around the same time led to the arrest of the suspect in the crime, according to search warrants released Monday.

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Luciano Mariano Andia
CARY, N.C. — A 72-year-old man found dead in his car at a Cary shopping center a week ago was beaten and robbed, and fingerprints from a nearby car that was broken into around the same time led to the arrest of the suspect in the crime, according to search warrants released Monday.

Luciano Mariano Andia suffered blunt force trauma to his face, skull and hand from an unidentified object, the warrants state. His pants pockets had been cut open, and his wallet and other items were missing.

Passersby found Andia unresponsive and covered in blood inside his Toyota Corolla at the High House Crossing shopping center on N.C. Highway 55 at about 7 a.m. May 9. According to the warrants, Andia was scheduled to work at the Dollar Tree store in the shopping center at 8:30 a.m. that day, but he routinely arrived to work two to three hours early.

A Kia Sedona and a Ford Explorer parked nearby were broken into that morning, with the passenger side window of each broken and the door left open after items inside were rifled through, according to the warrants. The driver of the Explorer told police that she saw someone in the backseat of Andia's car and the rear passenger door open when she arrived for work at the shopping center at about 6 a.m.

Fingerprints taken from the Sedona matched those of Dwight Anthony Blount, 54, who has a criminal record dating to 1981 and has been convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and felony breaking and entering.

Andia's State Employees Credit Union debit card was used at numerous businesses in Cary and Apex on May 9, and his Bank of America card was used at a bank ATM that day, warrants state. Security camera footage from the businesses and the bank showed a man matching Blount's description, and some cameras also showed a four-door car with distinctive discolorations on the hood and a pink-and-black child's car seat in the back seat.

Cary police went to Blount's home at 870 Buckingham Court in Cary, where they found a Toyota Corolla matching the description of the vehicle seen in the security footage. The car is registered to Blount's girlfriend, and Blount told investigators that he frequently drives it.

A search of trash bins at the apartment complex turned up Andia's credit card, receipts and clothing linked to the purchases made using Andia's SECU debit card and "an object covered in a red dried liquid consistent with human blood" mixed in with trash that bore the names of Blount and his girlfriend, warrants state.

Blount was charged with Andia's murder on May 11, and police searched his home and his girlfriend's Toyota Corolla. Investigators seized a portable GPS and swabbed some suspected blood from the car and took three cellphones, a pair of sneakers and some other items from the apartment, according to warrants.

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