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CARY DAVISWallace Kelly Marcum's death is the third homicide in the county in four days.
PORT RICHEY - Police have released the name of the 35-year-old man who died Monday after being struck in the head in a convenience store parking lot. Investigators on Tuesday also released a sketch of the assailant, but said they still were searching for the motive behind the fatal attack.
Wallace Kelly Marcum was assaulted about 4:45 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of the Shop & Go at Grand Boulevard and River Gulf Road, police said. Investigators, without providing details, said they believe the assailant and Marcum knew each other.
Investigators said Marcum was either punched or hit in the head with an object and fell to the ground. He was airlifted to a St. Petersburg hospital, but died about an hour after the attack.
"We do have a good, strong witness," Port Richey police Lt. Bill Sager said Tuesday.
The witness was able to provide a physical description of the assailant, but not a name, Sager said. A police sketch artist on Tuesday met with the witness, whose name was not released, and produced a drawing of the attacker.
Police described him as a white man, possibly Hispanic, about 5-feet-10, with a medium build, black and gray hair, balding in the front, and a goatee.
Also on Tuesday, Port Richey police announced a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Marcum's death. Anyone with information about the attackis asked to call the Port Richey Police Department at (727) 816-1919.
Police said Marcum's last address was on Trouble Creek Road in New Port Richey. He has not lived there for about a year, police said.
State records show that Marcum has an extensive arrest record, with convictions for burglary, uttering counterfeit bills, petty theft, domestic battery and several probation violations. He has served time in state prison and local jails.
"He had a lot of problems," his father-in-law, Harry Hegele of Valrico, said Tuesday.
Marcum has been married for 10 years but has been separated from his wife for months, Hegele said.
Marcum's slaying marked the third homicide in four days in Pasco. A 47-year-old homeless man was killed in Zephyrhills early Friday. And early Sunday, a 22-year-old Moon Lake man was stabbed to death outside a Hudson bar. Pasco sheriff's detectives have made arrests in those two cases.
Port Richey police are less familiar with homicide investigations. The city's last homicide was in January 1998, when 20-month-old Travis Crouch died of a massive head wound. Investigators have named two suspects - the toddler's father, Jeffrey Crouch, and his former girlfriend, Anna May Becker - but to date no charges have been filed.
- Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is cbdavis@sptimes.com