A North Carolina furniture manufacturer is accused of fatally shooting his business partner this week, just hours after a judge ruled against him in a contract dispute.
Willard Gary Black, 85, has been charged with second-degree murder in the Wednesday killing of Robert Roger Arguelles, according to Queen City News. Authorities said Arguelles was shot in the chest and back.
The shooting took place at Old Hickory Tannery, the company the two men co-owned.
Court records show Black had been ordered earlier that day to pay Arguelles $310,882.74 in connection with a business disagreement, Court TV reported.
Black and Arguelles had been tied together in business for years. In 2018, Black sold Arguelles a 49.9% stake in the company. But Arguelles later alleged that he had loaned Black $280,000 and that only $23,876.19 of that amount had been repaid, according to the report.
