Police widen probe of slayings

RICHMOND — Investigators are looking into whether two men arrested for the robbery and killings of seven persons in their Richmond homes were involved in similar crimes elsewhere, a police spokeswoman said yesterday.

Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Gavon Gray, both 28, were captured Saturday in Philadelphia on charges stemming from the killings of members of two families, including two children, who were discovered bound with tape.

The home of one family was set on fire, and the other was ransacked.

Authorities said police found evidence linking the pair to all seven slayings.

After the arrests, the investigation widened.

“There’s other law-enforcement agencies that are looking into any similarities with these cases,” said Cynthia Price, a spokeswoman for Richmond police. “We know there was a home invasion in Chesterfield, and they have been charged with that one.”

Police in suburban Chesterfield County did not respond to phone calls yesterday about charges in the Jan. 3 home invasion, in which no one was injured.

Mr. Dandridge had been released from a state prison in November after serving 10 years for robbery.

“We all make mistakes and what don’t kill will only make us stronger,” Mr. Dandridge wrote on a Web site from prison. “I believe in treating others as I want to be treated and respected in life.”

A SWAT team found Mr. Dandridge and Mr. Gray on Saturday and used pepper spray to subdue one of the men, who resisted arrest, said Philadelphia police Capt. Benjamin Naish.

The men remained in custody yesterday in Philadelphia, Capt. Naish said. An extradition hearing could be held as early as today.

Police said they were led to the suspects by a green Chevrolet Blazer taken from the site of a triple homicide discovered Friday.

The bodies of Percyell Tucker, 55; his wife, Mary Tucker, 47, and her daughter, Ashley Baskerville, 21, were found in their ransacked home. The causes of death have not been disclosed.

Miss Price would not comment on news reports that the suspects knew one of the victims in the Tucker home.

Mrs. Tucker worked at a laundry and regularly attended Fifth Baptist Church, said Rosa Tillar, a friend and co-worker.

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