1 Town, 3 Seniors Dead In Closets

A suspect was arrested Friday in the deaths of three elderly women whose bodies were found stuffed in their closets, authorities said. A fourth woman fought off her attacker and provided a description.

The suspect, Gary Sinegal, 40, was charged with burglary of a home and a parole violation, authorities said. He was not immediately charged in the deaths of a woman whose body was found Monday and two others found in their homes on Thursday.

A manhunt through this small industrial city led to the arrest of a parolee with a history of robbing women, police said.

More than 30 Port Arthur officers, as well as canine units from Beaumont Police and Texas Department of Criminal Justice, were searching neighborhoods in Port Arthur, reports the Beaumont Enterprise.

"We had a tremendous amount of officers go out there, speak to every single person, they went door to door for an extended period and in an extended distance from the scene," Major Mark Blanton of Port Arthur Police Department told CBS Affiliate KFDM. "And I think also citizens due to the gravity of the situation, citizens that may not have wanted to come forward were not hesitant to call."

"We got quite a few calls and went to check people here and there today," he added.

On Monday, an 82-year-old woman, Dorothy Barrett, had been found in a closet. She died of blunt force trauma, said Deputy Police Chief Raymond Clark. The bodies of the two other victims, ages 81 and 86, were found in their homes Thursday. The Port Arthur News said the women's names were Louise Tamplin and Margie Gafford.

The killings are being investigated as capital murders, police Maj. Mark Blanton said.

The fourth victim, Brenda Choate, 59, was able to fight off the assailant Thursday.

"She just physically scratched, fought, hit, kicked, screamed and he gave up and ran away," Clark said. "Being younger, I'm sure was an advantage for her. ... In her case, she saw an out and she did what she needed to do."

Police offered few details on the motive or time frame for the attacks.

"We think he was picking a soft point or someone who was extremely vulnerable," Clark said.

Police said they discovered one of the dead women Thursday and were already questioning Sinegal when they received a call from a repairman who discovered the third body.

Sinegal had been convicted in 1981 of a robbery involving a 77-year-old woman. In 1984, he was sentenced for an armed robbery of a convenience-store manager and her daughter, serving 20 years before being paroled last year.

Choate told the Beaumont Enterprise that the man broke into her house and caught her as she ran for the door.

"I kicked him as hard as I could and I was just screaming," she said. "What was going through my mind was, 'You fight and you scream."'

Choate said her attacker fled on a bicycle, and Blanton said investigators seized a bicycle they believe the suspect was riding. The suspect was cooperative and allowed police to search his house, but denied any involvement in the attacks, authorities said.

Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz issued a statement warning all elderly white women to take extra safety precautions, to lock their homes and not go outside, reports the Port Arthur News. Relatives were urged to regularly check on their loved ones, and if they did not hear from them to contact police immediately.

Port Arthur is a city of 56,000 people about 90 miles east of Houston, on the Gulf of Mexico.