Missouri authorities’ arrest on Thursday night of a man and a woman wanted in Alabama for a murder and kidnapping as well as a home invasion in Tennessee led authorities to discover the bodies of three people they allegedly killed in Illinois.
Brady Witcher, 41, and Brittany McMillan, 28, were taken into custody by law enforcement officials in Hazelwood, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis, on Thursday.
They were found holed up at a Days Inn motel, according to police.
Following their arrest, police found the bodies of three people in a home in nearby Bethalto, Illinois. The discovery was made during a welfare check of a home whose registered address was linked to a car that may have been stolen by the suspects.
The alleged multi-state crime spree began on December 13, when authorities found Kellie Ann Hughes, 31, dead in a wooded area near Birmingham, Alabama.
Brady Witcher (left), 41, and Brittany McMillan (right), 29, face nine counts of first degree murder after three bodies were found in a home in Bethalto, Illinois, shortly following their arrest near St. Louis on Thursday
Police discovered the three bodies in Bethalto, Illinois, after conducting a welfare check at an address registered with a suspicious vehicle found in the vicinity of their arrest.
John McMillian, 32, was identified as one of the victims found in the home in Bethalto
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified Hughes as the woman who was shot dead and dumped behind a hospital.
Hughes’ body was discovered hours after a woman contacted authorities and told them she was being held captive at an apartment complex.
The caller did not know her exact location, but deputies traced the woman’s call to Woodside Condominiums in Centerpoint.
When they arrived at the scene, they saw the woman, with her hands bound together with zipties, fall down a flight of stairs, reported WVTM13.
The kidnapping victim, who suffered injuries that required medical treatment, told the deputies that she knew about a killing that had taken place, and it may have prompted her abduction.
Alabama authorities obtained warrants for Witcher and McMillan, charging them with kidnapping and capital murder.
The two fugitives were arrested on Thursday night in a raid by police on their hideout in this Days Inn motel in Hazelwood, Missouri
The couple was then wanted for shoplifting in by authorities in Tennessee, according to WSMV-TV.
They were seen in surveillance footage stealing goods from a Walmart in Clarksville on December 14.
According to police, Witcher pulled a gun from his waistband when he was confronted by a Walmart employee.
The couple then fled the scene in a stolen car, according to Tennessee authorities.
Police say they later found an abandoned vehicle that investigators believe was the stolen car.
Investigators came upon the abandoned car after receiving reports of a ‘man chasing a woman’ and a ‘shot being fired.’
That woman was treated for a leg injury, according to Clarksville police.
Witcher and McMillan are also alleged to have fatally shot Kellie Ann Hughes (above)
Hughes’ body was found in a wooded area near Birmingham, Alabama, on December 13
Authorities allege that shortly after killing Hughes, Witcher and McMillan abducted a woman who had information about their role in the crime. The above image shows the wooded area where Hughes’ body was found
Police then received a report of a stolen pickup truck that was taken from a man by force. The man suffered stab wounds and was rushed to a hospital.
On the night of December 18, authorities allege that Witcher and McMillan broke into a home in Clarksville whose front door was left unlocked.
Police say a married couple in their 20s was inside the apartment at the time.
According to authorities, McMillan and Witcher, who were armed, tied the couple up and forced them into separate closets, where they were kept until the suspects took them out the next day.
Clarksville police say that the next morning, a gun was fired as the victims confronted the suspects.
The male victim was stabbed while the female victim managed to wrestle the gun away from McMillan, according to authorities.
The victims managed to escape and the suspects fled in a pickup truck.
The victims were then taken to a hospital in Nashville where they were treated for injuries.
On December 14, Witcher (left) and McMillan (right) were seen on surveillance video in a Walmart in Tennessee. Authorities say Witcher stole items and then pulled a gun when confronted by a Walmart employee
The husband suffered from stab wounds. He is expected to be released from the hospital soon.
The wife was treated for a leg injury and released.
The police in Clarksville believed that the suspects were hiding out in a motel near St. Louis, Missouri.
Tennessee investigators worked in tandem with the Hazelwood Police Department, the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, and the St. Louis County Police Department Special Response Unit.
Officers raided the Days Inn motel and arrested the two suspects at around 10:20pm on Thursday.
After the arrest of Witcher and McMillan, police conducted a welfare check at an address in Bethalto, Illinois.
Authorities allege that Witcher and McMillan broke into the apartment of a couple in their 20s in Clarksville, Tennessee (above). During the home invasion, the two suspects allegedly locked the couple in separate closets
Authorities said they found a suspicious vehicle outside a Hazelwood hotel registered to an address in Bethalto.
When officers arrived at the address, they found the bodies of three people inside. Police said they were shot to death.
The victims have been identified as Shari Yates, 59; her son, Andrew Brooks, 30; and 32-year-old John McMillian, according to KMOV-TV.
A GoFundMe page was started for McMillian.
‘When taken into consideration with all the crimes that have occurred, that have been mentioned, let alone those that we may not know about, in my 30 years of law enforcement experience, this is probably the most tragic and despicable of the violence I’ve ever seen,’ Bethalto Police Chief Mike Dixon said.
Witcher and McMillan were charged on Saturday with nine counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of the three people in Illinois.
Those charges are in addition to alleged crimes they committed which include aggravated kidnapping and theft as well as murder.