Golden Gate Estates brothers may have been killed in drug deal gone bad, affidavit says

Two Golden Gate Estates brothers whose bodies were found in a torched SUV in January appear to have been killed during a drug deal gone bad, according to court documents.

A criminal complaint filed with the county clerk's office details how investigators pieced together the evidence that led them to arrest Zachary Anderson, 24, last week in connection with the slaying.

Anderson was served with an arrest warrant at the Naples Jail Center, where he was being held since his Jan. 27 arrest on an unrelated probation violation charge.

At around 7:20 a.m. Jan. 18, the Collier County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call reporting that a vehicle was on fire at the end of 20th Avenue Northwest in Golden Gate Estates.

As fire crews worked to douse the flames, they found two badly burned bodies in the 2002 Mercury Mountaineer, the complaint states. The bodies were identified as Thomas Anthony Hunter, 41, and Christopher Patrick Hunter, 36.

The Collier County Medical Examiner's Office found that the brothers suffered fatal gunshot wounds, the document states.

Witnesses in the neighborhood told investigators that they heard gunshots between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 17.

The Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit found a spent 7.62 mm shell casing, consistent with an assault rifle, outside the SUV and rifle-type ammunition in the vehicle, according to the report. Investigators said they also found a bag of pills and a box of matches near the burned Mountaineer.

A detective from the State Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations determined the fire was arson and that gasoline was used as an accelerant, the complaint states. The detective also said that the person who caused the fire would likely have been burned.

On Jan. 18, Thomas Hunter's wife reported him missing to the Sheriff's Office and told investigators that the last time she saw her husband and his brother was the night before, when the brothers were on their way to "conduct a narcotics transaction," according to the complaint.

The woman told investigators that a man went to the brothers' home in a white or silver Kia Soul between 9 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Jan. 17 to buy drugs, the complaint states.

The woman said Christopher Hunter talked to the man in the Kia and went back into the house upset because the man forgot his wallet, officials say. The woman heard Christopher Hunter talk to the man on the phone and agree to follow the man to his house, the complaint states.

Investigators identified Anderson as a suspect and found out that he had been driving his mother's Kia Soul in the days before the Hunter brothers' slaying. Anderson and his mother lived in a home on the 600 block of 20th Avenue Northwest, according to the complaint.

On Jan. 20 the Sheriff's Office dive team searched the canal next to the crime scene and found Christopher Hunter's wallet. The wallet had no money in it, although several witnesses told investigators that the man frequently carried large amounts of cash, the complaint states.

Investigators also found Christopher Hunter's cellphone on the bank of the canal. A latent fingerprint examiner found a fingerprint belonging to Anderson on the cellphone, according to the complaint.

Cellphone records show that Anderson sent more than 100 texts to each of the Hunter brothers between Jan. 7 and Jan. 17, the complaint states. Christopher Hunter and Anderson on Jan. 17 sent several messages to arrange a drug deal; Anderson wanted to buy Oxycodone pills, officials say in the complaint.

Anderson stopped using his primary cellphone to contact Christopher Hunter and switched to another phone number several times before the brothers’ deaths, the complaint states.

Detectives found that the last person Christopher Hunter communicated with on his cellphone was Anderson at 9:43 p.m. the night he and his brother were killed, which coincides with the time witnesses said they heard gunshots, the complaint states.

On Jan. 24 a state probation officer told investigators that Anderson reported to her office and had noticeable burns on his face, officials say. Anderson gave a urine sample that tested positive for Oxycodone.

The final piece of the puzzle that tied Anderson to the slayings was the rifle authorities believe was used to kill the Hunter brothers. Investigators found the rifle in a canal 1½ miles from the crime scene.

Anderson had texted a picture of the rifle, which was in a camouflage bag, to a friend in early January saying that he wanted to sell it, the complaint states.

A camouflage bag was found underneath Anderson’s bed during a search of his home, officials said.

The shell casings and ammunition found at the crime scene matched a live round found in the rifle when investigators found it, according to the complaint. The round was made by the same manufacturer and was of the same caliber as the spent rifle cartridge found at the scene, according to officials.

Anderson entered a plea of not guilty last week. An arraignment for him is scheduled for June 12, said Shannon McFee, Anderson's attorney.