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Schepps Dairy to pay $10,000 to anonymous tipster in murder case
A North Texas resident whose tip helped Arlington Police solve a 2005 murder will be rewarded tonight. Schepps Dairy Reward Program Coordinator Ed Spencer will present a $10,000 check to Arlington Police Chief Theron Bowman at 6:30 p.m. at the Arlington City Hall council chambers, 101 W. Abram St. The tipster has asked to remain anonymous.
Twenty-year-old Shekhar Regmi was killed at the Fina Mart at 2005 E. Copeland Road on Dec. 20, 2005. When the masked men entered the store, another employee ran to a cooler and hid. Mr. Regmi was working in a storage room and was unaware a robbery was taking place. When he emerged, one of the suspects marched him toward the front of the store with his hands on his head. For unknown reasons, the gunman shot Mr. Regmi in the back of the head and fled.
The next day, Arlington police released surveillance photos of the suspects. Schepps Dairy quickly contacted Arlington police to offer a $10,000 reward in the case.
Arlington Police Homicide Detective Kyle Dishko, the lead investigator, received the tip that broke the case. Just three days after Mr. Regmi was killed, police arrested Jared Birmingham, 21, Julius Perales, 18, and Darryl Quinones, 17. All three were indicted on capital murder charges on Jan. 11, 2006. Detective Dishko will deliver the $10,000 check to the tipster after the ceremony.
"Without the tip, this would have been a long, drawn-out investigation," Detective Dishko said. "This tipster catapulted us forward. The tip led us to three arrests and to the recovery of valuable evidence in the case. This tipster is a hero in the sense that the information allowed us to solve the case and give closure to the victim's family."
The victim attended North Lake College in Fort Worth. "He simply came here on a Visa to get and education and was going to return to his family in Nepal," Detective Dishko said.
Chief Bowman pointed out that Schepps Dairy has three standing $10,000 reward offers in Arlington cases.
"Rewards are an incentive for people to come forward when they otherwise might not," Chief Bowman said. "By partnering with us, Schepps is providing a service to the community, and that service has proven to be successful."
The Schepps Dairy reward program is the result of Schepps Dairy founder Harmon Schepps offering a reward after the murder of one of his employees in 1973. Since then, the dairy has offered more than $1.5 million in rewards throughout the Metroplex and given more than $350,000 to people who have helped police solve crimes.
The three Arlington cases in which $10,000 rewards are still offered are:
In July 2002, Schepps Dairy presented Arlington resident Edwin "Bubba" Schafer with a $10,000 check for his involvement in the arrest and subsequent indictment of serial rapist Manuel Salamanca Jr. Salamanca is currently serving life in prison.
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