Joshua William Maylee, Suspect in Deadly Missouri Shootings, Arrested
FULTON, Mo. (CBS/AP) Joshua William Maylee, a suspect in a series of fatal central Missouri shootings, was captured Thursday after police had warned anyone associated with him to flee the area.
Maylee, 23, was taken into custody about 1:30 p.m. without incident in Cooper County, several dozen miles west of where the shootings occurred, said Sgt. Robert Bruchsaler of the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad. Bruchsaler released no other details.
Authorities have not discussed possible motives for the shootings, but records obtained by The Associated Press indicate one of the victims had received a stolen lawnmower from Maylee, who faces theft charges.
Maylee, of Holts Summit, has not been charged in connection with the shootings that left three people dead and one wounded, but police have said they want to question him. Before Maylee was captured, Bruchsaler encouraged people who had past encounters with him to contact law officers and move to a safe location.
"If they feel that their lives are in danger because of past dealings with Mr. Maylee, they need to find accommodations elsewhere," Bruchsaler said earlier Thursday. It was unclear how many people may have heeded the warning.
A gunman killed Eugene Pinet,48, and his 57-year-old wife Jackie at their home in the Holts Summit area early Wednesday. Jeffrey Werdehausen, 46, also was killed and his wife Gina, 41, was injured in a shooting at their home in the same area.
Police said the killings were not random but have declined to say why the victims may have been targeted. Bruchsaler has said the gunman used a high-powered rifle and a handgun, and that authorities believed he acted alone.
Maylee faces two felony theft charges, one of which was filed the day the shootings occurred. A police probable cause statement in that case says Maylee stole a lawnmower, valued at around
$10,000, from a home in Kingdom City on Oct. 15, 2009.
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