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By Dennis Romero
A Michigan man was arrested early Friday after showing authorities cellphone images of two dead women and indicating to a witness that he was on a mission to rid other women he knew of their “demons,” authorities said.
The 26-year-old man from Delta Township was being held on unrelated warrants while detectives investigate what they allege was a “killing spree” cut short by fast-acting law enforcement.
The victims, a 26-year-old from Holt, Michigan and a 32-year-old woman from nearby Meridian Township were both felled by blunt-force trauma, Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth said at a news conference Friday.
The victims’ names were being withheld until family could be tracked down and notified. The suspect’s identity will be released following his arraignment, authorities said.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that the suspect was on a killing spree,” Wriggelsworth said. “And his quick capture probably saved many lives. As a matter of fact, since we’ve been working this investigation, we have learned there were other victims this guy intended to kill.”
Authorities allege he intended to attack at least two other women before being thwarted at around 2:40 a.m. at a traffic stop.
A third woman, a witness from Eaton County, helped investigators unravel the case after she contacted authorities early Friday to report a suspect outside her home who she said was sending her ominous texts.
“She received texts from the suspect that he loved her and so he spared her and she would know what this meant soon,” Wriggelsworth said. “He also went on to say he had been ridding the demons of some dear friends of his.”
Within 50 minutes of the woman’s call to authorities Eaton County law enforcement tracked down the suspect’s vehicle and arrested the driver, whom they believe is the man behind the alleged spree, the sheriff said.
“During the stop the subject then made comments or statements to the deputies on scene that he needed to show them some pictures or some media images on his phone,” Wriggelsworth said. “When he did that there were images of two females that appeared to be deceased on his phone.”
The suspect was jailed on “some other warrants,” the sheriff said, but charges connected to the deaths would be formally recommended soon.
The suspect knew all his victims and had a romantic relationship with one of the women involved in the case, authorities said.
“These weren’t random acts, necessarily,” Wriggelsworth said.
He said that he believes there’s no further threat to the public.