Update
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 5:38 am
Do you all remember me posting an article about a man being murdered near my home? Here's an update on it.
Two suspects charged in murder of trial witness
Dec 29, 2005, 11:16 AM CST
SMYRNA, Tenn. -- Two suspects were charged Wednesday in the shooting death and robbery of a Rutherford County man who had been scheduled to testify in a June murder trial.
Aldrick Lillard, 21, and his girlfriend Vanessa Claude, 25, were arrested at her home in Murfreesboro, Sheriff's Detective Major Chuck Thomas said.
Randy Betts, 49, was found dead in his home near Smyrna last Tuesday with a single gunshot wound. He was scheduled to deliver testimony during the June trial for the murder of Tony Akins, 52.
Lillard and Claude are both charged with theft, aggravated robbery and first-degree murder.
The couple are accused of breaking into the home, killing Betts and taking credit cards and checks that were later used in area stores, Thomas said.
Authorities are still investigating whether Betts' scheduled testimony in the murder case played a role in his death.
"This wasn't random," Thomas said. "They knew who he was, where he lived and what he had in his residence."
Darren J. Yeager, 25, of Clarksville, has been charged with first-degree murder in the Akins case and his girlfriend Brenda Louise Hickman, 26, of Smyrna, has been charged with conspiracy.
Two suspects charged in murder of trial witness
Dec 29, 2005, 11:16 AM CST
SMYRNA, Tenn. -- Two suspects were charged Wednesday in the shooting death and robbery of a Rutherford County man who had been scheduled to testify in a June murder trial.
Aldrick Lillard, 21, and his girlfriend Vanessa Claude, 25, were arrested at her home in Murfreesboro, Sheriff's Detective Major Chuck Thomas said.
Randy Betts, 49, was found dead in his home near Smyrna last Tuesday with a single gunshot wound. He was scheduled to deliver testimony during the June trial for the murder of Tony Akins, 52.
Lillard and Claude are both charged with theft, aggravated robbery and first-degree murder.
The couple are accused of breaking into the home, killing Betts and taking credit cards and checks that were later used in area stores, Thomas said.
Authorities are still investigating whether Betts' scheduled testimony in the murder case played a role in his death.
"This wasn't random," Thomas said. "They knew who he was, where he lived and what he had in his residence."
Darren J. Yeager, 25, of Clarksville, has been charged with first-degree murder in the Akins case and his girlfriend Brenda Louise Hickman, 26, of Smyrna, has been charged with conspiracy.