GUILTY MS - Thomas Schlender, 74, & Lori Carswell, 48, killed in highway shootings, May 2012

[MagnoliaMom]

Just saw this....


http://www.abc24.com/content/topsto...dy-in-Mississippi/LqmXqgOM2k-YYfxH7fX6pw.cspx

Wow. At least 4 people have reported this man as stopping them in the last 3 weeks. Wonder how many more haven't reported it? Where he was picked up was way south of the shootings. I wish they had said what kind of vehicle Lucas was driving and the color.

Police have not tied Lucas to the deadly shootings, but investigators have stated they are not ruling anything out.

http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/MS-911-Dispatchers-Flooded-with-Calls-After/Ao-Fchmx-kC6x1yOWVbg_w.cspx

The situation is dangerous not just for drivers, but cops as well.

"Mississippi people carry guns," says Martha Hamm. "If an officer walks up and doesn't feel comfortable, they're liable to shoot them."

That's where 911 dispatchers are key, acting as the liaison between the 911 calls to the officer in his patrol car.

They've been working on overdrive the last few days.

http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Authorities-Investigating-Mississippi-Highway/SIe3ii8PKki_IyAkXh_Aiw.cspx

"There's been instances where a vehicle described as a white unmarked Crown Victoria attempting to pull people over," said Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance, adding some have reported a gold Crown Victoria.

http://wreg.com/2012/05/17/local-investigators-look-for-connections-to-highway-shootings/

Sheriff Lance says he’s only had one similar incident in Tate County, where a woman was pulled over on I-55 by a suspicious person. It was Someone in a gold car with flashing lights

“So he wanted to see her driver’s license and she refused to give it to him,” said Lance. ”Her purse was in the truck and she was not going to get out of the car and he became agitated with her and she asked him for his identification,”

Sheriff Lance says the man became frustrated, got back into his car and drove away.
That was April 2. About a month later, 74-year-old Schlender was killed on that same highway.

The woman told authorities that the man who pulled her over was a white man, wearing khaki pants and an untucked plaid shirt. The sheriff says the man could very well be connected to the highway killings, or not be. But he says they are following up on any tips or leads they get.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57436880/james-d-willie-arrested-over-deadly-mississippi-highway-shootings/

Authorities in Mississippi say they've arrested a suspect in two fatal highway shootings that happened late at night along desolate stretches.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says 28-year-old James D. Willie will be charged with two counts of capital murder in the shootings. He's being held at the Tunica County jail in north Mississippi.

 

[MagnoliaMom]

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-1-arrested-miss-highway-shootings-095059917.html

Willie was arrested Tuesday morning when authorities responded to a disturbance at an apartment. Tunica police found Willie with a woman who claimed he had raped her, a news release said. When Willie was arrested, authorities found a 9mm Ruger in his possession. Ballistic testing later found that it was the same gun used in the two highway shootings, authorities said.

So they have caught the shooter who was not posing as a police officer. However in the course of the investigation we have learned that at least 2 guys are posing as officers and stopping people. Were any of these people driving a gold or white crown vic?

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

Wow, what the heck is going on in MS? I wonder what happened in these murder cases. After reading about James Lucas arrest, it seemed for sure that it was robbery gone wrong...pulled them over and walked up with a gun demanding money-they tried to flee and he shot them. Now it turns out it's this Willie guy and he was not posing as a cop! I'm very curious to find out what happened to these poor people.

 

[Sonya610]

A cleverly faked roadside disaster might get people to pull over too. Maybe a smoke bomb that makes a car on the side of the road appear to be on fire with a frantic driver next to it? People might fall for that, they likely would NOT fall for a black guy standing on the side of a rural road waiving his arms unless it looked very legit.

Far fetched but something convinced these folks to pull over. A man with a small child (or a woman on her own) would work too.

 

[MagnoliaMom]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtxdJ0NIJIGIrBZIOQivZGVQXPfQ?docId=db70ffd675894ce2b9236358b302482a

Willie's arrest unfolded after a woman who was involved in a domestic dispute in Tunica County asked him for a ride to the Sheriff's Office on Tuesday morning. Instead of taking her there, authorities say he drove her to a field in these flat Delta farmlands and raped her.

Hamp said the woman tried to run but Willie fired a shot then drove her back to his girlfriend's apartment, where the victim slipped out a window.

A shell casing in the field and Ruger pistol found in a car belonging to Willie's girlfriend were linked to the highway shootings, Hamp said. He said the unidentified girlfriend has not been charged, though neighbors said she was taken for questioning Thursday and hasn't come home since.

Geez, glad they got him off the streets but I am totally puzzled as to what his motive(s) were to the shootings. Senseless. LE got lucky on this one. I am so sorry about the raped woman but she is the hero in this. Where was his girlfriend while he was holding this other woman?

 

[OkieGranny]

http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/nebraska-family-wants-closure-and-long-sentence-in-mississippi-slaying/article_a0c9c33a-24a0-566c-ace0-0ae2ae384114.html

The seven members of Schlender’s family will finish their trip in a courtroom in Batesville for the murder trial of James D. Willie, the 30-year-old accused of ambushing the former Lincoln Electric System supervisor in the early morning dark of May 8, 2012.

“We want to see that guy -- he has inexorably changed our family’s life,” Anderson said. “And we want this guy to see we’re strong as a family.”

They also, as a family, had wanted Willie to die if convicted. They’d talked about it, weighed it and ultimately shared their decision with the prosecutor, who last year notified Willie’s attorney he planned to pursue a death sentence.

But when Willie’s trial starts Monday, he’ll face the possibility of a life sentence.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/local-news/suspect-mississippi-highway-shootings-case-takes-s

More than two years after Thomas Schlender was shot and killed in his pickup beside a highway in Panola County, a jury found a suspect guilty of murder.

James D. Willie, 30, who testified in his own defense, was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Schlender, 74, a father and grandfather from Raymond, Nebraska... McClure told Willie that he will not be eligible for parole until he is 65...

Willie was tried earlier in connection with Lori Anne Carswell's murder in Tunica County... A mistrial was declared after Willie had an outburst and was subdued with a taser during the April 2 trial. No new trial date has been set.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Life sentence for murder of Tunica casino worker - September 2016

http://wreg.com/2016/09/08/james-willie-sentenced-to-life-in-2012-murder-case/

A man on trial for the murder of a woman back in 2012 has been found guilty.

James Willie was given a life sentence in court in Bolivar, Mississippi on Thursday.

He was also found guilty on a stolen fire arms charge.

Willie verdict reversed - December 13th

http://www.panolian.com/2016/12/13/willie-verdict-reversed/

A split decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed and remanded back to Circuit Court a 2014 murder conviction that found James D. Willie guilty of the murder of Thomas Schlender on Interstate 55 near Courtland on May 8, 2012.

In the appeal a majority of the justices agreed with Willie that Judge Jimmy McClure’s response to a question from the jury amounted to instructing them that they could not find that Willie possessed the murder weapon without also finding him guilty of murder.

Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale said Monday that his office was obviously disappointed in the decision, but would be ready to retry the case next year.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

From September:

Willie retrial set for January

The expected October 2 retrial of James Willie of Panola County, charged with capital murder in the death of Thomas Schlender of Nebraska, has been postponed until January after Willie’s defense lawyer recently became ill.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Mississippi Highway Killer James Willie Pleads Guilty To 2012 Murder; Now Serving 2 Life Sentences

http://www.localmemphis.com/news/local-news/mississippi-highway-killer-james-willie-pleads-guilty-to-2012-murder-now-serving-2-life-sentences/923849464

Thomas Schlender, 74, was shot and killed while driving down I-55 in Panola County in May 2012. Willie was originally tried and convicted in 2014 or the murder, but the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the conviction, and a new trial was set to begin Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.

Thursday, Willie pleaded guilty to the murder charge in Schlender’s case. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison.

 

[LesleyBright]

Hi guys. I'm trying to get to the bottom of a weird story and I'm hoping that this thread can help out.

On April 28, 2012, when I was a junior in college, a friend and I were driving I-40 between Jackson, TN, and Memphis, TN. It was pretty early in the morning. A white, unmarked car pulled us over. It was the first time either of us had ever been pulled over, so when the guy got out in plain clothes we didn't know any better.

He approached the passenger window, which I dutifully rolled down. I tried to give him my license and registration and explain that I must not have known the correct speed limit because I didn't realize I was speeding. However, he didn't want any of my stuff, or to hear what I had to say. He began screaming at us, all kinds of crazy stuff about how we were disrespecting Tennesee roads (I had an Indiana plate at the time) and that we shouldn't be allowed in the state. He kept leaning in and pulling his gun. At one point he pointed it at my friend. I was so scared that I was polite--those that know me know that I usually would confront this obvious attempt to terrify us. My friend was crying.

He tried to tell us to get out of the car, that he was going to have to take us in, but I calmly told him no and that he was going to need to call in backup. We weren't getting out of the car. He screamed and waved his gun around a bit more before stomping back to his car. He tried to ram us as we pulled back out onto the freeway.

I called my dad, which eventually led to me calling the local police and reporting him. It seemed like only days later that the news was reporting a highway serial killer, someone pulling people over disguised as a cop and shooting them. To boot, one of the victims had an out of state plate, which seemed to be something this guy really harped on. I remember seeing drawings that looked like the guy that pulled us over, at least to me. And I remember him getting caught.

But I could not remember his name. After taking to the internet, I found Willie. But guys: I would have sworn that my guy was white. I know that eye witness testimony is not reliable, but I can still see him in my head, and Willie ain't him. Add in that they aren't sure he was pulling people over like that, and suddenly I'm wondering how many serial killers there were on the Tennesee/Mississippi highways in 2012.

I've tried looking at the articles linked about someone named Lucas and about there being multiple people pulling others over, but they're dead links.

Can anyone shed any light on this situation? Does anyone have another direction for me to go to piece this together?

Thanks!