George Carter went two doors down from his scuba-diving shop in Finksburg to see a buddy, a video store clerk, for change.
“It was, ?How about the weather? How are you doing?? kind of a normal conversation,” Carter said.
That was the last time he would see Gary L. Hatfield alive.
Hatfield?s wife, Barbara, and son, Ryan, found his body Saturday night in the back of H and D Video Sales, where he had worked for several years, state police said. The store sells family and adult videos.
State police confirmed that Hatfield was slain and a robbery occurred.
Neighbors say they were told Hatfield, 54, of Manchester, was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher in a robbery for $1,000.
“He was always friendly, always had a kind word for everybody. It?s unbelievable,” Carter said.
“He was a big guy, but you?d only have to meet him for 20 seconds and feel he wasn?t a threatening guy.”
He said he would miss Hatfield?s neighborly gestures, such as waving “Hi” as vehicles passed in the parking lot or his signing for a UPS package when no one was at the scuba store.
A few doors down sits the nondenominational, 65-member Freedom Fellowship Church, whose pastor, Jim Resh said he would pray for the neighborhood.
“We do a lot of praying for us and all the clientele in that neighborhood,” Resh said as two police detectives walked Monday afternoon along the line of stores on Suffolk Road interviewing store owners.
“It?s good for churches to be in places that are a little less than safe, because maybe they can do some good. God?s there to help us out and have good things come out of bad,” he said.
Police do not have suspects but they are looking for a light-colored minivan with wood-paneled sides because it was in the parking lot the night of the slaying, said Greg Shipley, state police spokesman.
