Ellijay man suspected in murders arrested in Florida

HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA - Thomas F. Kleingartener, 33, an ex-convict from Ellijay and a suspect in a double-murder in North Carolina, was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol Sunday when his truck collided with another vehicle after getting off the highway in Broward County in south Florida.<br> <br> Kleingartener led authorities on a 21-mile chase on Interstate 95 ended with a crash.<br> <br> The chase began after troopers received a tip about a man driving a pickup truck with a handgun and bulletproof vest, said FHP Lt. Julio Pajon. The tipster was following the truck and told officers that the driver had confessed the murders to someone else.<br> <br> The FHP tried to make a traffic stop north of Miami, but the driver sped north on the highway.<br> <br> He faced six charges relating to the chase as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement joined the investigation into the killings in Iredell County, N.C. Details of the slayings were not immediately available.<br> <br> Troopers found a handgun stuck in Kleingartener&#39;s back waistband, and bullets and a military-style bulletproof vest were in the truck, Pajon said.<br> <br> The arrest was made before the weather cleared up enough to allow people to return home from Miami-Dade County shelters.<br> <br> Authorities in North Carolina are waiting to talk with him about the slaying of his mother and stepfather, James and Martha Hughes, at their lakefront home at Lake Norman.<br> <br> Kleingartner allegedly called his wife, Helena, at her Georgia home Sunday morning and told her he had killed his parents, Pajon said. She notified the Iredell County Sheriff&#39;s Office, and a deputy was sent to the home around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, said Lt. Roger McDaniels.<br> <br> The front door was locked when deputies Chris Stone and Darren Hill arrived. A kitchen window, located a short distance from the front door, had a visible bullet hole in it.<br> <br> The two deputies found Martha Hughes lying on steps leading from the kitchen to the entry way. Her husband was lying on the kitchen floor, McDaniels said.<br> <br> Helena Kleingartner told the Statesville Record Landmark that she was shocked by the call from her husband.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m still trying to deal with it,&#39;&#39; she said. ``Jim and Martha were just normal people, two normal elderly people.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> She said her mother-in-law was a retired nurse anesthetist and her father-in-law was a printing supply business owner in Chicago. The couple lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and used the house at Lake Norman as their summer home.