Triple murder suspect in Oklahoma and Alabama arrested in Arkansas

A man whose “violent behavior escalated” – and who is linked to at least three murders in Oklahoma and Alabama – was arrested in Arkansas on Thursday, authorities said.

Morrilton police and Arkansas State Police tracked down and arrested 50-year-old Stacy Lee Drake, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Jack Kennedy, sheriff’s captain for Tuscaloosa County in Alabama, told reporters on Thursday: “When you look at his criminal history, it is clear that his violent behavior has steadily increased. He is now responsible for at least three, possibly four murders in the last two months that we know of.”

“So it wouldn’t surprise me if there are other murder cases that are unsolved in other jurisdictions,” Kennedy said, “because of his lifestyle, the use of false names, the fact that he had no permanent address, no proof of employment, changing his appearance and then immediately fleeing crime scenes to many, many, many states.”

Arkansas State Police had warned residents in and around Morrilton, about 50 miles northwest of Little Rock, to be on the lookout for Drake.

Kennedy said he was apparently just passing through and had previous addresses in Oklahoma and Arizona.

He had spent several days in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, in recent days, where A man and a woman were killed and a car stolen at a propane store Tuesday night, local and state authorities said. The killings occurred about 120 miles west of Morrilton.

In Tuscaloosa County, he is accused of killing 62-year-old Russell Andrews, a popular Alcoholics Anonymous counselor, on or about May 14, officials there said.

Investigators knew Drake’s name after about 24 hours, but did not make it public because they were counting on having an advantage if he believed detectives did not know his name, Kennedy said.

Andrews was shot, shocking the community.

“I don’t know anyone who didn’t like my father. My father was a very lovable guy,” his son Russell Andrews Jr. said Thursday. “He was a big giver … and always had a listening ear. I would describe my father as a man without a watch.”

The man who was killed was keen to help anyone in need, his son said.

“He would sit there for hours and talk to people and help them, whether it was alcohol abuse, drug addiction or whatever,” said Russell Andrews Jr. “Dad enjoyed helping people that way. And I didn’t understand why someone would murder Dad and had no idea who it was.”

Drake was also named as a “person of interest” in the death of 56-year-old Phillip Emerson in El Reno, Oklahoma, El Reno Deputy Police Chief Kirk Dickerson said Thursday.

Police investigated an “unattended death” on Friday before concluding that Emerson had “suffered fatal injuries consistent with homicide,” Dickerson said.

Drake is also wanted by federal authorities who say he violated the terms of his release, Kennedy said. Drake has been convicted in federal court of auto theft and illegally transporting weapons.