Suspect in murders in Oklahoma and Alabama nabbed in Arkansas
Morrilton, Ark. — An Alabama man wanted in connection with homicides in Oklahoma and Alabama was apprehended Thursday in Arkansas after a search that spanned multiple Southern states, Arkansas State Police said.
Stacy Lee Drake, 50, was taken into custody around 10 a.m. in a wooded area in Morrilton, state police said. He was apprehended "without incident," the agency said in a brief statement.
Morrilton Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer told CBS Fort Smith, Arkansas affiliate KFSM-TV, "We were so blessed that ... he was able to be apprehended without anybody (else) getting hurt. ... He is in custody today and hopefully he will not be let out for a long, long time."
Drake is wanted in connection with homicides and carjackings in Oklahoma, Arkansas State Police said. They said he's also wanted on other felony warrants from multiple jurisdictions on charges including aggravated robbery, carjacking and murder.
A man and a woman were found dead inside a business near Gans, Oklahoma, near the Arkansas state line, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. Both had injuries consistent with homicide, and the agency said Drake is a person of interest.
Arkansas authorities initially said Drake was wanted in three Oklahoma homicides, but OSBI spokesperson Hunter McKee said Thursday that Drake has been connected only to the two in the Gans area.
"We're still investigating what else the suspect might have been involved in," McKee said, but he added that Drake was not wanted for any other Oklahoma slayings.
The bodies of the two victims were sent to the state medical examiner for identification and to determine the causes of their deaths, the OSBI said.
Drake's last known address was in Birmingham, Alabama. He was being held Thursday in the Conway County Detention Center in Arkansas.
Drake had an extradition hearing scheduled for Friday morning, the jail's administrator said. It wasn't immediately clear if Drake had an attorney.
In Alabama, Drake is accused of killing Russell Andrews on May 14, according to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office. Capt. Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said there is a warrant for Drake on a murder charge. News outlets reported that Andrews, 62, was found dead inside the Alcoholics Anonymous building.
Tuscaloosa authorities said Andrews' vehicle was stolen when he was killed and was picked up by cameras hours later as it was being driven on an interstate near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border.