Massachusetts

Second Suspect in Peabody Double Murder Arrested in SC

Wes Doughty is the second suspect in the double murder of 37-year-old Mark Greenlaw and 39-year-old Jennifer O'Connor

The suspect was found begging for money outside a McDonald’s restaurant.

Massachusetts State Police say the second suspect in a gruesome double murder in Peabody, Massachusetts last weekend was arrested in South Carolina on Friday after six days on the run.

Wes Doughty, 39, had last been seen in Boston on Wednesday night. He was reportedly caught by the Spartanburg Sheriff's Department at 3:30 p.m. Friday after being questioned as a panhandler outside of a McDonald's. 

After police ran his name, they discovered he had a warrant out for his arrest and took him into custody. 

Doughty is one of two suspects charged in the double murder of 37-year-old Mark Greenlaw and 39-year-old Jennifer O'Connor at 19 Farm Ave. in Peabody on Saturday.

AP
NBC Boston
The scene in Peabody, 19 Farm Ave., where 37-year-old Mark Greenlaw and 39-year-old Jennifer O'Connor were killed.
Police searched the home for evidence tied to the murder.
AP
The Peabody murder victims, 37-year-old Mark Greenlaw and 39-year-old Jennifer O'Connor.
Michael Hebb, 45, of Peabody, was arraigned for the murders after being taken into custody.
Massachusetts State Police
39-year-old Wes Doughty is believed to be the other suspect responsible for the murders. Police say he is armed and dangerous.
Massachusetts State Police
Massachusetts State Police released this wanted poster for Wes Doughty.
Police say Doughty carjacked a gray 2006 Honda Accord 4-door with Massachusetts license plate 7KLY80 outside of Hailey's Restaurant in Middleton, Massachusetts. The victim was threatened with a knife and tied up with a seatbelt while Doughty drove. Doughty took the car to Boston, where the victim was released unharmed.
Hailey's Restaurant in Middleton, Massachusetts, where the carjacking occurred.
Archivo
State police searched an area off Route 128 on Friday for evidence related to the Peabody murders.
CSNPhilly.com
State police trudge through a marshy area, searching for evidence in the Peabody double homicide.
Officers search a swampy area for evidence related to last weekend's double murder in Peabody.

Authorities say Doughty will be arraigned Monday in South Carolina and could be back in Massachusetts sometime next week to face charges.

Michael Hebb, 45, of Peabody, was arraigned on Tuesday after being taken into custody without incident at the Maple Village Condos on Monday.

Police had warned that Doughty was considered armed and dangerous after he carjacked a vehicle outside of Hailey's Restaurant in Middleton, Massachusetts on Wednesday night. He was found with the stolen vehicle in South Carolina on Friday.

The carjacking victim, Ken Metz, was tied up with a seatbelt while being threatened with a knife while Doughty drove for three hours toward Boston. Metz was unharmed and said that Doughty told him "I can’t kill you" after Metz told Doughty about his family.

Metz was able to escape when the suspect pulled into a parking lot behind Hollywood Liquors, which is when he was able to untie himself and run into Good Eats on Tremont Street for help.

Metz said Doughty told him that he killed the couple because they had given heroin to his godfather.

A statement from O'Connor family from Julie Trueira, sister of Jennifer O'Connor, reads, "My family and I are feeling a sense of relief tonight knowing that Wes has been caught. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the law enforcement officers who have spent countless hours trying to find him. We now have some closure."

The witnesses who saw the the end of a carjacking by an alleged double murder suspect discuss how they helped the victim.

Also on Friday, Massachusetts State Police searched a marsh in Peabody for evidence related to last Saturday's double murder. The search took place Friday afternoon near Interstate 95 in Peabody, not far from the murder scene.

Aerial footage showed a number of police cruisers parked along the wooded, swampy area, and four officers could be seen trudging through the marshy area as part of the search.

Police wouldn't say what they found, only that they accomplished what they set out to do with the search.

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