Delia D'Ambra

When news of Jason's, as well as Rhonda and Levi Wisnitz murders, reached people in the community, folks were shocked and devastated.

On the evening of the crime, a family friend of the Crisp visited Jason's wife Amanda at home and notified her of what had happened.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends of the Wisnitz were horrified to hear how they'd been found.

Rhonda's nephew told WSOC-TV, "...they didn't deserve to go through this.

They just had their dream house built a few years ago.

They built it all by hand and paid for it all by cash.

They worked for what they got."

One of the couple's neighbors told the News Herald via the Hickory Daily Record that he'd known Troy for all his life and did not think the 38-year-old was an upstanding citizen.

The neighbor stated, "'He's a dangerous man.

Let's put it like that.'"

He later continued, "'His daddy and stepmom are two of the greatest people in the world.

They didn't deserve this.'"

According to the couple's obituary, Levi was retired and usually spent his mornings with Rhonda puttering around the house drinking coffee while watching birds and wildlife.

Rhonda was still working as a nurse, but they both shared a dream of one day opening a petting farm on their property.

Jason's partner and fellow Forest Service law enforcement officer Wade Keener was not in North Carolina when the murders happened.

He'd been sent to Virginia earlier in the week to assist with a timber audit at another district office.

It wasn't until around 3 o'clock on the day of the crime that he began hearing reports of an officer-involved shooting in Burke County.

And by 6 p.m., he learned the sad news that Jason was gone.

He described that moment to me as a gut punch and said that Jason was truly like a brother to him.

As he asked questions and learned more information, he had a bit of a you've got to be kidding me moment when he heard the name of the man who was responsible for Jason's death.