× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

A man charged with killing his close friend, a disabled Army veteran, took to Facebook on Monday to express the “great loss” of his friend before the body had even been found, the victim’s niece said Wednesday.

Chelsea Higgs Wise said that she and other relatives of Clarence H. “Click” Fowlkes suspected on Monday night that a close friend of the family, Rodney M. Powell, was involved in Fowlkes’ death because they saw the Facebook post, which she said was later deleted. Police said they are investigating the timing of Powell’s posts on social media.

Members of the victim’s family were further shocked this week to learn that Powell, whom they have known for 25 to 30 years, was charged more than a decade ago in a murder-for-hire killing of one of three men suspected of killing two Food Lion employees in Chesterfield County in 1990. Those charges were later dropped, though.

On Tuesday, Chesterfield police arrested Powell, 46, of Henrico County, on a charge of first-degree murder in the slaying of Fowlkes, 58, who worked as a security guard. Family members found Fowlkes dead late Monday evening in his home in the Chesterfield Village Apartments in the 700 block of Chinaberry Drive.

Wise on Wednesday said Powell was regarded as a “longtime friend of the family.”