Russell County sheriff seeks suspect’s car in case of man found slain behind church
They’ve identified the body and charged a suspect, but Russell County sheriff’s investigators say they’re still missing a key piece of evidence in the case of Christopher Roper, found shot to death Thursday behind a church.
Sheriff Heath Taylor said authorities are trying to find a car they believe murder suspect Samantha Elizabeth Malasig was using, a burgundy Honda Civic that has a black rear bumper, and no bumper in the front.
In a photo of the car Taylor displayed at a news conference Saturday, it had an Alabama tag numbered 6309BD6.
Anyone who has seen the Honda may contact the sheriff’s office at 334-298-6535.
Taylor said Roper’s friends told investigators she was the last person seen with him Wednesday night, so they tracked her down for questioning, and now suspect the pair were involved in criminal activity.
“I think they were both at the time trying to break into the church,” the sheriff said of the Seventh Day Advent Church at Kitetown Road and Uchee Pines Road near Fort Mitchell, where workers building the nearly complete structure found Roper’s body around lunchtime Thursday.
Roper was lying on the ground with one hand in his pants pocket, an indication he did not feel threatened at the time he was shot, Taylor said, so investigators assumed the killer was someone he knew.
He and Malasig had known each other for at least a month, the sheriff said Saturday.
“I believe that they got into an argument,” he said. “What started the argument depends on what story of hers you believe.”
He said authorities suspect Malasig was so disoriented by drug use that she could not recall where she left the Honda.
“She’s tried to tell us and remember where she put it,” he said. “She does not.”
Other people may have been involved in the case, he said, but investigators think Malasig was the one who shot Roper: ”We’ve got who we believe pulled the trigger.”
When church workers reported finding Roper’s body at 12:49 p.m. Thursday, authorities initially had no idea who the victim was, and sought help identifying him. They were able to establish his identity Thursday night, reporting the 38-year-old had been living on Cut Rate Road in Phenix City.
Malasig, 28, was charged on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 2:52 PM.