HOLBROOK, Ariz., (KRQE) – The search is now over for the man suspected of killing a former Albuquerque firefighter three months ago. Police arrested the suspected killer and detectives described the murder as very calculated.
Terry White was arrested on Saturday at a truck stop in Arizona for the murder of Don Fluitt. Police said White is married to Fluitt’s ex.
They said on the night of December 29, 2016, they got a call of a suspicious death at a home near Coors and Sequoa. When they arrived, they found 54-year-old Don Fluitt, dead with cuts on his neck.
Police said Fluitt had been fighting for custody of his 11 year old daughter, with his ex-wife Christine and her husband, Terry White.
In the criminal complaint, police said investigators zeroed in on the custody battle pretty quickly. After speaking to White, police said he told them he was at his sister’s, then fell asleep in his car before his 11:00 P.M. shift at Special Logistics, a trucking company near I-25 and Comanche on the night of Fluitt’s death.
He also told police it had been more than a year since he had been to Fluitt’s home. Surveillance video from Fluitt’s neighbor showed a man in a hoodie entering the home around 8:00 P.M. Security video from Special Logistics showed White pulling into work at 11:30 P.M., wearing a similar outfit to the intruder at Fluitt’s home.
Police said White’s alibis just didn’t hold up. The final straw was when the DNA tests came back showing his skin under Fluitt’s fingernails. Those DNA results led to a murder charge, and finally, White’s arrest in Holbrook, AZ on Saturday.
Investigators said White also knocked Fluitt’s garbage can over, knowing Fluitt would have to get out of his car to pick it up as he pulled into his driveway, leaving his garage door open a little longer. They said that’s how White entered the home.
APD said as far as they know, Don Fluitt’s ex-wife, Christine White, was not involved in the murder.
Fluitt’s family said it has been a tough three months with no answers, now they want to see justice served.
“I don’t even think I’ve processed it yet, to be honest with you,” said Dennis Fluitt, Don Fluitt’s brother. “I want to see him stay in prison for the rest of his life. He has no business being out here ever again.”
