Did a Christian sign and cross displayed outside the home of an 81-year-old Mississippi man play a role in his murder?
Bobby McGill and his wife, Peggy, were asleep around 4 a.m. on Oct. 15 when Eric Basco broke into their home, Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards told Fox News Digital. McGill fought the intruder while his wife escaped and called 911.
Authorities say during the struggle, McGill tried to reach a pistol kept in a chest at the foot of the bed, but Basco got hold of the gun first and shot McGill multiple times.
Following the shooting, authorities say Basco then went into a bathroom and shot himself. He died over the weekend at a hospital in Tupelo, Union County Coroner Pam Boman told WTVA.
Investigators obtained video recorded the previous evening about 1.5 miles from the McGill’s home. In the footage, Basco can be seen throwing his hands into the air and screaming what sounds like “God is dead,” Edwards told the outlet.
The McGills had a cross and a sign reading “Jesus is Lord” displayed in their yard. Edwards said investigators believe burglary was the likely motive but acknowledged the religious symbols raised questions about why Basco chose that particular home.
“Did that help lure him to that house? I don’t know,” Edwards said. “I’m not saying it did. I’m not saying it had anything at all to do with it. But it’s a question that I have in my head if that played a part or not.”
He added, “I don’t know, we’ll probably never know.”
Edwards said Basco had no criminal history beyond minor traffic violations and that there was “something mentally wrong with him or something that altered his thinking.”
According to his obituary, McGill was a retired truck driver, landowner, and longtime member of Keownville Baptist Church. He and his wife, Peggy, had been married for 42 years.
In an Oct. 15 Facebook post, McGill’s granddaughter, Hayley McGill Hendrix, asked for supporters to keep the family in their prayers: “My Papaw loved the Lord above all else & he loved his family with his whole heart. What a great man. He led his life by example of what it looks like to walk with Jesus. He made sure you couldn’t leave a conversation with him without hearing about Jesus. His faith became sight this morning. How lucky are we to have the hope of eternity so we can see him again one day. This world & the people in it can be so evil.”
The obituary page shared by Keownville Baptist announced a memorial service for McGill on Friday and remembered him as a “faithful member” of the church.
“Jesus said in Matthew 22 that the greatest commandment is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’” … “and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself,’” the statement read.
“Bobby’s life was lived by these principles. The Lord blessed him with an abundance of family and friends, and that gave him immense joy and made him feel like the richest man in the world.”
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected].
