Arkansas police have arrested a bloodied suspect carrying incriminating weapons just after he murdered his girlfriend’s father while he called 911 for help.
John Hurlburt, 53, contacted police at around 11 p.m. Thursday to report that his daughter’s boyfriend broke into his home and Tazed him.
Hurlburt said that he hit his attacker with a heavy object before he ran away. As he related the details of the ordeal, Hurlburt suddenly stopped talking, and the dispatcher heard him screaming for help.
Officers rushed to the scene where they spotted a man sporting reflective material near a creek. They chased him into a wooded area and arrested him.
The man was Hurlburt’s suspected killer identified as 22-year-old Samuel Appling. He was covered in blood, wearing all black, gloves, and a mask.
He was carrying a backpack containing “items that could be used to subdue, kill, dismember, and bury a body.”
Hurlburt’s lifeless body was found lying in his living room with several stab wounds.
Appling was charged with capital murder, burglary, and fleeing. He is being held without bond at the Washington County Jail.
