(Fieldale, Va.) – Henry County authorities have made an arrest in a murder that happened back in early 2018.  Lorene Dalton Hopkins-Pequignot, 69, of Stuart was found dead in the home she shared with her husband after he called 911 and told dispatchers their home had been broken into and he could not locate his wife.

Deputies found Hopkins-Pequignot’s body in the home and transported it to the medical examiner’s office for autopsy.  The cause of death was “manual strangulation.”   Investigators at the scene determined the breaking and entering was staged, and began gathering additional evidence including medical records, financials and phone and internet histories.  Witnesses were interviewed from as far away as South Carolina.

At the conclusion of the sixteen-month investigation authorities arrested Tom Pequignot, the victim’s husband. He is charged with one count of first-degree murder and is being held in the Henry County jail, without bond.