Cops: Suspect Admits Dumping Elderly Ohio Couple's Bodies in Georgia

Feb. 26, 2011— -- A man arrested in the killing of an Ohio woman whose body was found in his basement allegedly admitted to police that he dumped the bodies of an elderly couple in Georgia, police said.

Samuel Littleton II, 37, was arrested Wednesday in Princeton, W.Va., on charges of murdering 26-year-old Tiffany Brown of Bellefontaine, Ohio, the daughter of his girlfriend.

He was also wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Richard Russell, 84, and his wife Gladis, 85, who were reported missing from Logan County, Ohio.

According to police, Littleton allegedly stabbed Brown to death, then abandoned his truck near the Russells' home, where it is believed he killed them before putting them in the trunk of their car, which he then stole.

Littleton knew the Russells because they sold him the house in which Brown's body was found, police said.

"Clearly the Russells are innocent victims who were merely targeted by Littleton to help further his escape from justice," Bellefontaine, Ohio, Police Chief Brad K. Kunze, wrote in a statement. "Dick and Gladis Russell are very fragile and do not deserve this unfortunate situation that they have been placed [in]."

Littleton allegedly fled the state and was on the run for more than a week until his capture Wednesday.

West Virginia police did not locate the couple, but their car was found in the parking lot of a Walmart in Princeton, near the woods where cops caught Littleton. There was blood in the trunk and in the passenger side of the car, police said.

During questioning, Littleton allegedly told police he had dumped the Russells' bodies in Lowndes County, Ga., while driving through the area on his way to Florida, police said.

Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine told the Dayton Daily News that Littleton was "vague" about where he had left the bodies. Prine said several hundred people were involved in the search.

"He told police he dumped the bodies in a cotton field in our county," Lowndes County Sheriff Lt. Stryde Jones told The Dispatch of Columbus, Ohio. "We're looking anywhere we can look. We have a lot of cotton fields in this area."

Investigators from the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, Cook County Sheriff's Office, Lanier County Sheriff's Office, Valdosta Police Department, Hahira Police Department, CSX Railroad Police and the Norfolk Southern Railroad Police are all involved in the search for the elderly couple's remains.

The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office said Friday that an investigation there determined that Littleton was in the Valdosta area on Feb. 18, two days after the Russells disappeared, but it was not yet clear how long he was there.

Valdosta Police Department Commander Brian Childress told The Columbus Dispatch that an officer had tried to pull over the Russells' car for a minor traffic violation at about 6 a.m. that day, but the driver refused to stop and the officer did not give chase, which is department policy.

During a court appearance Thursday in Mercer County, W.Va., Circuit Court, Littleton said he would fight efforts to be extradited to Ohio to face charges in Brown's death.

Littleton was held without bond and is scheduled to be back in court for a hearing March 21.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.