An Arlington man was assaulted and stabbed in his own yard on a snowy January morning. He died three days later, but police never caught the killers. More than 20 years later, the case remains unsolved.
Hugo Long, 52, and his wife usually parted ways each morning when he left for his Fairfax County government job as a building inspector, and she took a bus into Washington, where she worked for the U.S. State Department.
But Jan. 12, 1988, was a snowy morning, so Long planned to drive her to work. The couple left their house on the 1300 block of Walter Reed Drive around 5:30 a.m. They started the car, and Long jumped out to clear ice off the windshield. Almost immediately, his wife heard strange noises and got out of the car to see her husband fending off two assailants with knives.
She rushed to help him, and both ended up with serious stab wounds. They got inside and called 911, as their assailants fled on foot. Long and his wife were rushed to the hospital. She survived, but Long died three days later.
The attack occurred in front of the couple’s home along a well-traveled road during early rush hour. But there were no eyewitnesses, despite investigators’ best efforts to canvass the area in the following days.
Police identified several people of interest at the time, but over the course of two decades, they have slowly been eliminated — cleared by evidence or solid alibis.
The two culprits, described only as black males, were never caught.
“It’s one of those tough, very frustrating cases,” said Arlington police Detective Kevin Norwood, who handles the department’s cold cases.
Given the circumstances, robbery is a possible motive, according to Norwood. Police found some items, small possessions of Long’s scattered throughout the lawn, leading them to consider that possibility.
On the other hand, he said, it seemed like an odd time of day and unlikely target for a planned robbery.
This fact leads him to think it was a crime of opportunity, a spur-of-the-moment act of desperation.
The physical evidence in the case has been re-examined as technology has improved, but it hasn’t produced suspects, Norwood said.
“But somebody out there knows what happened,” he said, even if it’s one of the two assailants themselves. “Relationships change, and we just have to
hope that at some point someone thinks maybe they should
come forward with information.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Arlington County Police Tip Line at 703-228-4242, or Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
