John Peyton Scott, wanted in Alabama double slaying, captured in St. Johns County
The man wanted in the Alabama double slayings of his girlfriend and her 75-year-old father was captured Monday in St. Johns County.
John Peyton Scott III, 41, was taken into custody early Monday afternoon.
According to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, investigators there received information Scott could be traveling in the area.
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Patrol deputies were on alert and began searching for the suspect’s vehicle. Deputies located the vehicle and performed a PIT maneuver in the area of IGP and I-95 where the suspect immediately surrendered.
Scott is being held in the St. Johns County Jail.
“This is yet another example that if you commit a crime no matter where you are from, your journey stops in St. Johns County,’' sheriff’s officials posted on Facebook.
Scott is charged with capital murder in the Jan. 19 deaths of Chester “Chuck” Tarwater Jr. and 40-year-old Sharon Tarwater Whited.
They were found slain Wednesday afternoon by Tarwater’s 12-year-old grandson inside their Piney Woods Road home. Tarwater was found in the hallway and Whited in another room in the house.
Authorities have not said how the father and daughter were killed.
Scott was Tarwater Whited’s boyfriend and lived at the Helena, Alabama, home with the family. Though police initially labeled Scott only as a person of interest and said he was not believed to be a danger to the general public, lookout bulletins issued to law enforcement agencies across multiple counties described him both as armed and dangerous.
He was listed in the BOLO as a capital murder suspect and said he was likely to be armed with a long gun and a handgun.
According to the BOLO, Scott was to be considered armed and to be approached with caution. The alert said Scott is known to take antipsychotic and antidepressant medications and known to experience hallucinations.
The bulletins also said evidence found at the murder scene led them to believe Scott may have been injured.
Police initially said Scott could be driving a red 2020 Ford EcoSport with Alabama license plate number DV47860. That SUV belonged to Chuck Tarwater and has a disabled veteran ( U.S. Navy) license plate.
Authorities have remained tight-lipped about the investigation. Scott does not have any prior criminal history listed in court records.
The Tarwater family moved to Helena after their home in western Jefferson County was destroyed in the 2011 tornado outbreak. The family was initially from the Pleasant Grove area.
Tarwater Whited was the mother of two daughters, who were with their father at the time of the slayings, but she was also helping to raise to her two nephews after the death of their father, who was her brother.
Tarwater’s wife, who suffers dementia, was home at the time of the killings but unharmed.
The Shelby County Major Crimes Task Force is assisting in the investigation. The task force includes detectives from Pelham, Alabaster, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Hoover and Montevallo.
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This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Alabama man wanted in double slaying captured in St. Johns County
