Murder suspect caught on his way to tattoo shop job interview in Florida, cops say

A tattoo artist headed to a job interview in Northwest Florida found himself swarmed by deputies after it was learned he was a murder suspect wanted in Ohio, officials say.

Larry P. Andrus Jr., 48, is accused of strangling his stepfather to death in Van Wert, Ohio, about 125 miles northwest of Columbus, officials say. The killing of 59-year-old Roy D. Watts followed “an incident at his residence” on Sept. 30, investigators said.

The U.S. Marshals Office in Toledo alerted the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that Andrus was headed their way, the sheriff’s office said in a Nov. 8 news release.

“Andrus worked as a tattoo artist and investigators believed that he was trying to get to Florida,” officials.

“Further investigation revealed that Andrus was supposed to arrive at the tattoo shop on 11/08/2023 for an interview. Andrus was traveling on a Greyhound bus from Pennsylvania.”

Investigators identified which bus he was on and the Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force’s Panama City Division “stopped it and arrested 48-year-old Andrus without incident.”

Andrus “faces charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter (2 counts), strangulation, and felonious assault, officials said.

Bay County is in the Florida Panhandle, about 100 miles east of Pensacola.

Details of a motive in Watts’ death have not been released.

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