squatter ever dared hope to try, much less did."By nature I don't want to say vicious, but he's over protective of us", says the victim, who did not want to be identified.
Rupert was the only thing standing between his owner and 47-year-old Walter Stowe.
Police say Stowe had walked up the woman's driveway on Lightspun Lane in North Charlotte; he was sweating and asked for water.
The woman having just come from church was happy to help. "So I came inside locked the door behind me and then went into the garage and got the bottled water," says the victim.
As soon as she opened the door to give Stowe the water he allegedly forced his way in.
"When he came in that's when he grabbed me by my hair pounded me on my head a few times and I hit the floor," she says.
That's when Rupert sprang into action.
"I was hollering for my dog's name Rupert, Rupert, come help....and Rupert was biting on him," says the victim.
The man let go for a moment and she tried to run to the door, but the suspect grabbed her by the hair again and Rupert attacked again.
"When he hit me the 2nd time and I went down hollering and screaming that's when the dog bit him and that's when he let go of me," she says.
This time the woman was able to get a neighbor to get help.
Police arrested Stowe.
The woman fears he would have raped her or worse.
"If it wasn't for Rupert, I truly believe he would have succeeded what he was coming in for."
Just like any hero, Rupert was given a reward.
He was allowed to eat pizza for dinner.
Rupert is 12 years old, not young in dog years, but obviously still active.
Stowe was charged with burglary, kidnapping and assault.
Police say he has a history of mental illness and escaped from the home where he was being kept. Officers also say he's been arrested for assault before, but this is the first time he has gotten in trouble in 9 years.
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Ballistics tests on a gun and bullets found with the man in Gastonia, N.C., match those used in a weeklong killing spree in and around Gaffney, said State Law Enforcement Deputy Director Neil Dolan.
"We have him. He's our serial killer," Dolan said Monday night.
Authorities did not release the man's name, but said he has had several encounters with law enforcement over the years.
Dolan said the physical evidence leaves no doubt the slain suspect was the person who shot five people to death over six days. But investigators still have no idea why he started the killing spree June 27.
"He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird," Dolan said.
The case came to an end in Gastonia early Monday after a couple called police to report a suspicious sport utility vehicle in their neighborhood.
Mike and Terri Valentine were on edge because the Gaffney serial killer was just a short drive away.
They watched two people who sometimes visit the neighboring home get out of the vehicle, followed by a third man who matched the description of the killer: tall, heavyset, unshaven and wearing a baseball cap. The man appeared to be very drunk, Mike Valentine said.
When officers went inside, Terri Valentine said she heard someone yell "put it down" and heard a gunshot.
Then "bam, bam, bam, bam. Next thing I know, all of Gaston County was here," she said.
Gaston County police said the other two people were in custody, but did not indicate whether they were facing charges.
The Gaffney killings happened in a 10-mile area over six days. A peach farmer was killed June 27, an 83-year-old woman and her daughter were found bound and shot four days later, and the next day a father and his teen daughter were shot in their family's furniture store.
SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd said the investigation isn't over, and Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said investigators will trace the suspect's recent activities and trying to figure out if he has killed other people in other places.
Blanton said he hopes the arrest calms the fears of 54,000 people in the county 50 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., known for its peach orchards and mills.
"We feel the victims' pain," Blanton said. "This isn't over. We're just changing gears."
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