Saturday, May 19, 2012

James Willie Arrested For Rape, May Be Tried For Capital Murder

Looks like Mississippi governor finally got his man.  Police have arrested James D. Willie who is suspected of murdering two people along Mississippi highways. James D. Willie, 28, of Sardis, was arrested when Tunica police responded to a reported disturbance at an apartment on Old Highway 61. A woman at the scene claimed Willie had raped her.  Willie had in his possession a Ruger 9 mm, semi-automatic handgun that the state crime lab believes is a ballistic match to the weapon used in two murders in northwest Mississippi last week

The murders occurred 50 miles apart over a span of three days. Both victims' vehicles were found on the side of the road. The murder of Thomas Schlender, 74, occurred on May 8. Schlender's wallet and several hundred dollars were missing. Lori Anne Carswell, 47, was murdered on May 11. She was found lying in the road next to her car on State Highway 713. Investigators originally believed that the suspected the killer was posing as a police officer but that has not been confirmed. Willie is being held on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping and rape. He will also likely be charged with two counts of capital murder.

"Hundreds of man-hours have been devoted to tracking down and arresting this individual," Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement. "Public safety is of paramount concern to us... we see the effective results of a unified effort of several law enforcement agencies working together."

All suspects are presumed innocent unless otherwise proven in a court of law!



10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was scary when it was thought to be a cop pulling people over and shooting them

Anonymous said...

If this guy is the scum that he is expected to be, I hope he spends eternity in a dark prison cell.

Video Guy said...

"This was scary when it was thought to be a cop pulling people over and shooting them"

That would mean he had to have a late model auto with some sort of official looking lights on it, or one placed on the dash.

More than likely he acted like a stranded motorist, just waiting for the right good samaritan to show up.

Anonymous said...

I think V>G> is right. This psycho preyed on the good samaritan.

Anonymous said...

However he did it, it was pure evil if true.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the I-57 murders in Illinois about 35-40 years ago.

Video Guy said...

"Reminds me of the I-57 murders in Illinois about 35-40 years ago."

I remember hearing about those but really did not give it a second thought at the time. I'll have to look it up to see if they ever caught the perp.

Were they saying that he/she acted like a stranded motorist to lure his victims?

Anonymous said...

stranded motorist or bumped another vehicle.... when they pull over to exchange insurance information ...BAM

Anonymous said...

stranded motorist or bumped another vehicle.... when they pull over to exchange insurance information ...BAM

Video Guy said...

"bumped another vehicle",

yes, another tactic used. But usually used at a stop sign. Were the vehicles found near a intersection? Stop sign or traffic light...bump. They pull to the shoulder afterwords to exchange information.