WASHINGTON, Pa. -- A Washington County man and his nephew are in custody after, police said, they went on a violent crime spree, slaying seven people in Richmond, Va.

Ricky Gray, 28, of Washington, is in police custody, charged in the Richmond slayings, and also accused of strangling his wife, Treva Gray, to death in November.

Washington police found Treva Gray's body in a neighborhood gravel lot on the west end of town, a few miles away from the home where she ran a day care.

"It is very unusual in a town like this to find a body that was just left there," said police Chief John Haddad.

The murder remains unsolved. Now, Gray's husband faces seven murder charges in connection with a violent spree in Richmond with his nephew, Ray Dandridge.

Dandridge lived with the Grays in their Duncan Avenue home, in Washington, after his recent release from a 10-year prison sentence for robbery.

Police said the pair attacked two different Richmond families -- one on New Year's Day, the other on Jan. 6. After robbing the victims, the men bound them with duct tape before the killing, police said.

In one case, investigators said the men killed a family of four, including two young girls, by slitting their throats before setting their home on fire.

One of those murder victims was the half sister of former "Desperate Housewives" star Stephen Culp, who played Rex Van de Camp.

On Saturday, police in Philadelphia arrested the men driving one of the victim's stolen Cadillacs.

Police in the city of Washington plan to question Ricky Gray more about his wife's killing now that he is behind bars, charged with the Virginia slayings.

The chief says the 28-year-old is "absolutely" a suspect in Treva Gray's murder.

He went on to say the man reportedly made statements to police that "help out" and "may clean up" the murder case in Washington.