Grand jury indicts suspect in deaths of 3 NC women

GASTONIA -- A grand jury in North Carolina has indicted a 47-year-old man suspected in the deaths of three women over a 17-year period. The Gaston Gazette reported Monday that Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder. He was arrested on Dec. 5 and is being held without bond in the Gaston County Jail. Gaston County Police say Hembree killed 17-year-old Heather Marie Catterton in October, then 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana in November. Both women lived in Gastonia, and their bodies were dumped in South Carolina. Hembree is also charged with killing 30-year-old Deborah Denise Ratchford in a Gastonia cemetery in 1992. He has said he wants to represent himself at trial, and a jail official didn't know Monday night if Hembree had hired an attorney. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)