Man arrested in fatal shooting

<p>A Fort Bragg businessman was shot to death with an old-fashioned muzzle-loader pistol Sunday night following an argument at his trailer on rural Sherwood Road, authorities said.</p><p>Aaron Joseph Vargas, 31, is suspected of shooting Darrell Rae McNeill, 63, once in the torso at about 8 p.m., said Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.</p><p>Vargas reportedly was angry over some unspecified abuse that may have occurred years earlier, Smallcomb said. "We're not sure what kind of abuse," he said.</p><p>McNeill's wife told investigators that Vargas remained at the scene for about 20 minutes until he was sure McNeill was dead, then disassembled the gun and left it on the counter before leaving.</p><p>The pistol Vargas used takes some time to load, requiring the insertion of wadding, a ball and black powder in the muzzle, then tamping it down, authorities said.</p><p>"We don't see those very often," Smallcomb said.</p><p>Liz McNeill was not threatened or harmed during the confrontation, but Vargas ordered her not to phone for help or to leave, Smallcomb said.</p><p>Vargas was arrested later Sunday night without incident at his parents' home on Fawn Lane, about two miles from the victim's home.</p><p>"It appears he did not anticipate fleeing law enforcement," Smallcomb said.</p><p>The homicide shocked friends of McNeill, a real estate agent with Century 21 and owner of American Home Store, an appliance and bedding store in Fort Bragg.</p><p>"Everybody's just stunned," said Paul Clark, a longtime friend and McNeill's boss at Century 21.</p><p>"He was a nice guy. We're kind of in a daze with whatever the issues are," he said.</p><p>Clark said no one had ever so much as hinted to him that McNeill might have done anything wrong. The McNeills had been living in a fifth-wheel trailer and serving as caretakers on Clark's property on Sherwood Road after suffering financial problems, he said.</p><p>They'd lost their home and Darrell McNeill was ill with Parkinson's disease, Clark said.</p><p>McNeill was a lifelong Fort Bragg resident, he said, and had once worked for Daly's, a defunct store owned by a series of lumber companies that had dominated the town.</p><p>Law officials were uncertain of Vargas' occupation or whether he was employed. He does not have a known history of violence. A woman who answered the phone at his parents' home declined to comment.</p><p>Clark said he does not know Aaron Vargas, but heard he has a child and was married or about to marry.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat</p><p>.com.</p>