Murder Suspect Found Dead in Camper After Barricading Against Arresting Deputies

When Buncombe County deputies arrived at 852 North Turkey Creek Road to arrest Christopher Robin Rogers on a second-degree murder warrant, they found him barricaded inside a camper with a gun, refusing every order to come out. It would be the last standoff of his life.

Rogers, 61, had been charged March 6 with the murder of Marco Loretto, also 61, whose remains were discovered near Elk Mountain Scenic Highway on the morning of March 4, around 11:15 a.m., by investigators with the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the remains as Loretto; preliminary autopsy results indicate he died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The case had been building since Feb. 24, when a friend reported Loretto missing after not seeing or hearing from him in nearly a week. What investigators found as they dug into his disappearance painted a troubling picture: Rogers had moved onto Loretto's property at 804 Elk Mountain Scenic Highway and was driving Loretto's vehicle, while telling authorities he hadn't seen him in weeks.

What Rogers didn't know detectives already knew was that Loretto had reached out to the sheriff's office as far back as February 6, asking how to evict Rogers from the property. According to Sheriff Quentin Miller, Loretto expressed fear and apprehension about his friend during that contact, nearly three weeks before he was reported missing.

When deputies moved to serve the arrest warrant, BCSO deployed its Special Response Team and Crisis Negotiation Team. "When we arrived to serve the warrant, we had information that Rogers was inside the camper with a gun and was refusing orders to come out when we gave him the orders," Miller said. "We deployed a Special Response Team and our Crisis Negotiation Team to respond to a barricaded suspect. Once the SRT members entered the camper, they discovered Rogers deceased with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head."

Assisting at the scene were the Reems Creek Fire Department, Asheville Police Department, and Weaverville Police Department.

BCSO District 2 Capt. Chris Stockton credited the breadth of units involved in getting to that point. "This diligent investigation led to the discovery of Mr. Loretto's remains along with other physical evidence that told the story of how he died," Stockton said. "Our hearts go out to those who have suffered loss as a result of these events."

The sheriff's office identified the case as Buncombe County's first homicide of 2026. Preliminary autopsy results for Loretto remain the official characterization of cause of death pending a final medical examiner report.