Authorities said they've arrested a suspect in two fatal highway shootings that happened late at night along desolate highway stretches.
State Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said 28-year-old James D. Willie is facing two counts of capital murder in the shootings.
Robbery and drugs were the motives in the two slayings, Tunica County Sheriff K.C. Hamp said. Investigators don't believe Willie knew the victims, Hamp said during a news conference on Friday.
Willie is charged in connection with the May 11 slaying of Lori Ann Carswell. Her body was found lying about 2:15 a.m. on Highway 713. Her purse and cellphone were found inside her car, but there was no money, authorities said.
Charges are pending against Willie in connection with the May 8 shooting death of Thomas K. Schlender, 74, of Raymond, Neb., Hamp said. Schlender was found shot to death in his car in the median of southbound Interstate 55 in Panola County shortly after 1:30 a.m., authorities said. Schlender's wallet was missing from the scene, his family said.
Willie was arrested Tuesday in Tunica County in connection with the kidnapping and assault of a woman, authorities said.
During his arrest, police discovered a 9 mm handgun. Police decided to compare ballistics from that gun to shell casings found at the scene of the highway killings. Authorities said there was a match.
"We have a lot of evidence that linked him to the crime. We're good without a confession," Hamp said.
Willie is also charged with kidnapping and rape in connection with the Tunica County assault case, authorities said.
Police initially had suspected that the person involved in the highway shootings may have been posing as a police officer. Strain said that turned out not to be the case.
