| Subject of manhunt is arrested in Augusta A nationwide search for slaying suspect Stephen Christopher Stanko has ended in Augusta, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Mr. Stanko - a former convict and author linked to two killings in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and a sexual assault in Georgetown, S.C. - was captured today in Richmond County, a service spokesman said. He has been in the area since Saturday night, Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength said at a 5:30 p.m. news conference. He will be held in the Richmond County jail tonight in isolation. This afternoon, he was in the federal courthouse on Telfair Street being interviewed by federal officers. He was arrested shortly before 3:30 p.m. at the Augusta Exchange shopping center. Witnesses said he had eaten lunch at The Atlanta Bread Co. and was walking toward the Hallmark store when dozens of local and federal officers descended on him. Mr. Stanko was not armed and did not resist arrest, Sheriff Strength said. His truck was found in the Exchange parking lot and was taken away by law enforcement. The sheriff said his agency received a phone call at about 9 a.m. Tuesday morning from a resident who recognized Mr. Stanko and they began following leads, which brought about the capture. The arrest came hours after the Marshals Service announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest. Mr. Stanko, who once vowed in a book he co-wrote that he would never return to prison, is suspected of strangling a librarian he lived with and fatally shooting a man to death before and stealing his truck. A teenage girl also said Mr. Stanko raped her. Police said his victims were librarian Laura Ling, 43, who shared a home with Mr. Stanko and was found strangled Friday, and Henry Lee Turner, 74, who was found shot to death in his home Saturday. Mr. Stanko, 37, was released from prison a year ago after serving 8 years of a 10-year sentence for kidnapping. While in prison, he co-wrote Living in Prison: A History of the Correctional System with an Insider's View with the help of two criminology professors. One of the professors, Gordon A. Crews, told television station WBTW in Florence that he knew Mr. Stanko was having a hard time adjusting to outside life. A week ago, Mr. Stanko was fired after a month as a salesman for Stucco Supply in Myrtle Beach. Associated Press reports were used in this article. |
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