Mississippi authorities say they’ve arrested a suspect in two deadly highway shootings that occurred in the late night hours along deserted stretches. James D. Willie, 28, has been held on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, and rape at the Tunica County jail in north Mississippi, according to a statement released by the Mississippi State Highway Patrol. Authorities are expected to charge Willie with two counts of capital murder later on Friday. Warren Strain, a police spokesman, said Willie was not posing as an officer in the shooting as was previously suspected.
Willie was taken into custody on Tuesday after authorities found him with a woman who said he raped her. A Ruger semi-automatic handgun, which matched the weapon to rounds used in the two murders in northwest Mississippi last week, was found in Willie’s possession at the time of his arrest, a police statement says. “The Bureau of Investigation and Crime Laboratory dedicated all resources available to this investigation,” Public Safety Commissioner Albert Santa Cruz said in a statement. “Our citizens have been terrorized by these murders and we worked tirelessly to resolve them.”
