He was caught in Atlanta - here is a local news story:
A tip from the FBI helped Atlanta authorities catch suspected serial killer Derrick Todd Lee, 34, Tuesday night.
Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said the Metropolitan Atlanta Task Force received information from the FBI about Lee’s location. Authorities went to northwest Atlanta where they spotted and approached Lee, who was "wandering" outside Green’s Tire Shop, according to Pennington.
Police asked Lee for identification. Lee showed identification and the task force arrested him.
"He was arrested without incident and he was transported without any incident to the Atlanta Police Department headquarters," Chief Pennington said. "We have taken a very dangerous person that is a serial murder suspect off the streets."
Lee was transferred to the Fulton County Jail at 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Lee's Journey
An intense manhunt for Lee shifted from Louisiana to Atlanta after the suspect was spotted at an Atlanta Motor Lodge.
Investigators believe Lee had traveled by bus from Louisiana to Chicago and then to Atlanta. He fled Louisiana after voluntarily giving police a DNA sample back on May 5.
"Mr. Lee became very nervous and he left the area. We've tracked him to several different places, into Chicago and then down to Atlanta. He's been in Atlanta a couple of times. This is his second trip here," said U.S. Marshal Richard Vaughn Mecum.
Atlanta authorities narrowly missed catching Lee twice; first at local homeless shelter and again when witnesses spotted Lee on Memorial Day at the Lakewood Motor Lodge in southwest Atlanta.
While living at the motor lodge, Lee made friends with residents, even grilling ribs on the motor lodge owner's grill. He also started a Bible study.
"Once his picture appeared on the news media, throughout the news media, he knew he was a wanted person in this area," Pennington said.
The DNA results linked Lee to the murders of five women in southern Louisiana where he lived. He is suspected in a sixth death more than a decade ago and the disappearance of yet another woman.
'A Very Gentle Man'
Authorities traced him to the hotel when he made a phone call to his girlfriend using the hotel manager’s cell phone. By the time FBI agents arrived at the hotel, Lee had already fled.
“His girlfriend notified him or asked him [the] question if he was the one [and said], ‘I think they know that you are the one who has killed the women here in Louisiana,’ at which point he abruptly ended the conversation, hung up the phone, and left,” Mecum said.
Hotel manger Bob Idicalla said Lee checked out of the hotel around 11:45 a.m. and that authorities arrived at around 2 p.m.
Workers, however, recognized the suspect from photographs. A woman who lived next door to Lee said her husband gave him a ride to the Ashby MARTA station.
“My husband says that he still can’t believe it,” she said.
Idicalla said Lee, as police had characterized him, was a very congenial man. “He is a very gentle man and a very nice guy,” he said.
Lee also had a job in Atlanta for the past week, officials said. He poured cement for a contractor and even cashed a pay check.
Suspect in Five Killings
Lee was charged in a warrant issued Monday with murder and aggravated rape in the killing of Carrie Yoder, 26, a Louisiana State University graduate student who became the serial killer's fifth known victim in March.
Authorities in Zachary, a Baton Rouge suburb, said police obtained a DNA sample from him -- which linked him to the five slayings -- because they were investigating him for an unconnected disappearance in their town.
Zachary Police Chief Joey Watson said a detective in neighboring East Feliciana Parish was given a tip from one of Lee's relatives that Lee was discussing the disappearance of Randi Mebruer, 28, who vanished from her home in April 1998.
The tip, combined with a review of Lee's criminal history led police to seek a DNA sample from Lee, and a court order was obtained, Watson said Tuesday. The sample was obtained May 5, authorities said.
Zachary police also suspect Lee is connected to the murder of Connie Warner, 41, who was found killed in September 1992, also in Zachary, Watson said.
The Warner and Mebruer cases have not been linked to the serial killer, but Watson said he believes they were all connected. Watson said DNA evidence found in the Mebruer case is still being tested. He had no details on whether DNA tests were also pending in the 1992 case.
"There wasn't enough to say with all certainty, but there's enough to suspect that they're all related," he said.
The warrant Monday accuses Lee only of Yoder's murder, though it says DNA evidence removed from Yoder's body matched that taken from the other four victims.
link to the article:
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.asp?storyid=32199
