MODERN DAY BONNIE AND CLYDE

Man and woman accused of murder, kidnapping, theft in multistate crime spree

By Nicole Acevedo

NBC News
December 21, 2019

A man and woman accused of a weeklong crime spree that included murder, kidnapping, stabbings and theft in at least two states were captured in Missouri, authorities said.

Brady Witcher, 41, and Brittany McMillan, 28, were arrested in Hazelwood, Missouri, on Thursday on Alabama warrants for kidnapping and capital murder, according to police in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The couple were also wanted on Tennessee warrants for aggravated kidnapping as well as theft.

McMillan and Witcher are each charged with capital murder in the Dec. 13 killing of Kellie Ann Hughes, 31, whose body was found last week in a wooded area around Birmingham after a report of a kidnapping, according to NBC affiliate WVTM in Alabama.

After Hughes' murder in Alabama, McMillan and Witcher were caught by surveillance cameras shoplifting at a Walmart in Tennessee on Dec. 14, according to Clarksville police.

Police said Witcher pulled a gun from his waistband after a Walmart employee confronted him. The couple then fled the scene in a stolen car, authorities said.

Officers attempted a traffic stop but the couple fled recklessly, leading police to decide not to pursue them to avoid putting the public in danger, authorities said.

The vehicle the couple used to flee the shoplifting scene was later found abandoned in the woods where police received reports of "a man chasing a woman" and "a shot being fired." That woman was later treated for a leg injury, Clarksville police said.

As police looked into the shoplifting incident, the couple may have stolen another vehicle in Clarksville, where police said a man's pickup truck was taken from him by force. The man was stabbed in the process and was later taken to the hospital.

McMillan and Witcher then allegedly broke into an apartment in Clarksville where a door had been left unlocked, according to police.

A married couple in their 20s was inside the apartment at the time. McMillan and Witcher, who were armed, allegedly subdued the couple and forced them each into separate closets, where they remained until the suspects took them out the next day.

A firearm was discharged as the victims allegedly confronted the intruders, authorities said. The husband was stabbed while his wife was able to wrestle a gun away from McMillan, and the couple was then able to escape and contact the authorities, Clarksville police said.

The suspects then allegedly took the couple's car and fled the scene.

On Thursday night, authorities found McMillan and Witcher in Hazelwood, Missouri — where they were both taken into custody.

Police in the St. Louis are are also now investigating whether McMillan and Witcher had any involvement in a possible triple homicide in Bethalto, Illinois, where three people were found dead in a residence.

Brian Koberna, deputy commander of the major case squad of greater St. Louis, said McMillan and Witcher "are connected to a substantial crime spree that’s been going on for some time and includes a whole host of activities,” and that one of them has a connection to Bethalto, the Associated Press reported.