JACKSON, Miss. (CBS/AP) - Authorities in Mississippi said they've arrested a suspect in two fatal highway shootings that happened late at night along desolate stretches.
According to a written statement released by the Mississippi State Highway patrol, 28-year-old James D. Willie was being held on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping and rape.
Authorities were to formally charge Willie with two counts of capital murder later Friday, according to the statement. He was being held at the Tunica County jail in north Mississippi.
Police spokesman Warren Strain said Willie was not posing as a police officer in the shootings as authorities previously suspected.
Strain said authorities were able to match ballistics from the shootings to a 9mm Ruger found in Willie's possession when he was arrested.
Authorities took Willie into custody on Tuesday after they found him with a woman who told police he had raped her.
At the time of his arrest the Ruger semi-automatic handgun was found in Willie's possession. Testing by a state crime lab matched the weapon to rounds used in the two murders in northwest Mississippi last week, according to the police statement.
"The Bureau of Investigation and Crime Laboratory dedicated all resources available to this investigation," Public Safety Commissioner Albert Santa Cruz said in the statement. "Our citizens have been terrorized by these murders and we worked tirelessly to resolve them."
Mississippi law enforcement agencies had warned motorists that someone may be posing as an officer because the shooting victims had no obvious reason to be stopped on the interstate where they were found.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press/CBS News.)
James D. Willie, 28, of 14332 Ballentine Road, Sardis, Mississippi was arrested at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 15th. (Mississippi Highway Patrol)
