Man charged with killing 4 arrested after multistate manhunt

ByMEREDITH DELISO ABCNews logo
Sunday, August 7, 2022

The man charged with aggravated murder in the fatal shooting of four people in Ohio was arrested Saturday night in Lawrence, Kansas, the FBI's Cincinnati field office announced.

Stephen Marlow, 39, was arrested by the Lawrence Police Department just before 10 p.m., according to John Porter, the police chief in Butler Township, Ohio, where the shooting deaths occurred.

Marlow is now in Lawrence Police Department custody, and arrangements for extradition are being made, Porter said.

The FBI had issued a wanted poster for 39-year-old Stephen Marlow, whom they said should be considered "armed and dangerous." He has ties to Indianapolis, Chicago and Lexington, Kentucky, and "could be in one of these cities," FBI Cincinnati had said on Twitter.

Marlow was wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of four people in Butler Township, a small town north of Dayton on Friday, police said.

Police responding to reports of gunfire shortly before noon found the four victims suffering from gunshot wounds at "multiple crime scenes" in a residential area, the Butler Township Police Department said.

The four victims were pronounced dead at the scenes. They were identified Saturday by police as Clyde Knox, 82, Eva Knox, 78, Sarah Anderson, 41, and Kayla Anderson, 15.

Marlow was charged with four counts of aggravated murder on Friday and a state warrant was issued for his arrest, according to the FBI. A federal arrest warrant was also issued on Saturday after he was charged with "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution," the FBI said.

"At this time, we believe that he has left Ohio. Law enforcement agencies in multiple states have been made aware of this and are on high alert," the Butler Township Police Department said.

Butler Township Police Chief John Porter addressed Marlow during a press conference Saturday, asking the suspect to turn himself in. "I want you to know that we want to help you. You have the ability to resolve the situation peacefully if you turn yourself into law enforcement as soon as possible," he said.

Marlow is the primary suspect, police said.

Porter said they don't believe there is a continued threat to the neighborhood but "we will continue to have crews in the area in case Marlow would return," he told reporters on Friday. The Dayton Police Department Bomb Squad was also contacted "out of an abundance of caution," he said.

Neighbors were asked to review any video camera footage from that day.

Porter said police were working to determine "if there were any motive to this horrible tragedy" and did not have any further information on the investigation.

"This is the first violent crime in this neighborhood in recent memory," Porter said.

Marlow was believed to have fled the area in a white 2007 Ford Edge SUV with the Ohio license plate JES9806, police said.

He was described by police as approximately 5'11", 160 pounds with short brown hair and was last seen wearing shorts and a yellow T-shirt.

ABC News' Matt Foster contributed to this report.

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