Suspect in custody in central Missouri shootings

[October 29, 2010]  FULTON, Mo. (AP) -- A man already facing theft charges is in custody in a series of fatal shootings in central Missouri that had prompted police to warn people who knew him to flee the area.

Joshua William Maylee, 23, was captured Thursday afternoon after approaching a residence on foot in Cooper County west of where the shootings occurred, police said. He has not been charged in the shootings that left three people dead and one wounded, but police have said they wanted to question him.

Sgt. Robert Bruchsaler, of the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad, said law officers were still working on the case. Police expect to be collecting evidence and interviewing people all day Friday.

"There is much more evidence to collect, there is much more interviews to do. It's far from over," Bruchsaler said. "Just because he's in custody doesn't mean the investigation stops."

Police planned a news conference with additional updates Friday morning.

A gunman killed Eugene Pinet, 48, and his 57-year-old wife, Jackie, at their home in the Holts Summit area early Wednesday. Jeffrey Werdehausen, 46, also was killed and his wife Gina, 41, was injured in a shooting at their home in the same area.

Police said the killings were not random but have declined to say why the victims may have been targeted. Bruchsaler has said the gunman used a high-powered rifle and a handgun, and that authorities believed he acted alone.

Authorities have not discussed specific motives for the shootings, but records obtained by The Associated Press indicate one of the victims received a stolen lawn mower from Maylee.

Maylee faces two felony theft charges, one of which was filed after Wednesday's shootings. According to a police probable cause statement, Maylee stole a lawn mower from a home in Kingdom City on Oct. 15, 2009.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Clark says in the document that Maylee told police in a July 20 interview that he put the lawn mower in an enclosed trailer and took it to Eugene Pinet's home. The lawn mower was recovered under a search warrant two days later, the document says.

It is not clear from court documents whether Pinet knew the mower was stolen.

Clark declined to comment Thursday. So did Bruchsaler and Callaway County Prosecutor Robert Sterner, who filed the theft charge.

Maylee also was charged with theft on Oct. 4 for allegedly stealing a tractor from Holts Summit resident William Essen on March 24, 2009. Clark said in a probable cause statement that Maylee "confessed to stealing the tractor" and told police he kept it at his house for several weeks before taking it to Ashland, Mo., where it sold for $2,500. The document does not say who bought the tractor.

Essen told the AP on Thursday that he does not know Maylee and was unaware anyone had been charged with stealing his tractor, for which he paid about $14,000 in 2004.

"If somebody bought it for $2,000, that would be suspect -- somebody would know it was not right. It was in good condition," Essen said.

The probable cause document includes a section on whether there are any facts indicating the defendant will not appear on a summons or poses a danger to the victim, the community or any other person. Clark wrote that there were none.

[Associated Press; By CHRIS BLANK and DAVID A. LIEB]

Lieb contributed to this report from Jefferson City, Mo.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.