Breckenridge Texan

The Breckenridge Police Department and the Texas Rangers are investigating a double homicide in Breckenridge after the bodies of two residents were found today, Friday, Dec. 14, in a house on North Front Street. A suspect was taken into custody at gunpoint by two Stephens County sheriff’s deputies and a Breckenridge police officer.

The Breckenridge Fire Department assists the police in securing the road that leads to the scene of a double homicide on Friday afternoon. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

According to Breckenridge Police Chief Larry Mahan, the police department received a call at 3:36 p.m. that there might be a body in the house on Front Street. An officer went to the address and did a courtesy check. He found two people in the house and called for an ambulance, Mahan said.

After the EMTs confirmed that the residents were deceased, Stephens County Justice of the Peace Michael Roach was called. Roach was out of town, so JP Jon Glenn of Eastland came to officially pronounce the couple as deceased.

“I immediately called the Texas Rangers,” Mahan said. “Rangers from Eastland, Graham and Abilene are here, and a fourth one is on the way with some specialized equipment. We’re letting the Texas Rangers handle this because we don’t do this every day.”

In the meantime, a suspect was developed and taken into custody and subsequently booked into the county jail on capital murder charges, Mahan said.

A deputy had a hunch about where the suspect might be and went to a property belonging to the family, located about 13 miles north of Breckenridge on U.S. Highway 183 in a rural area. Once he saw the suspect, he called for backup. Another deputy and a BPD officer arrived on the scene, and the suspect was arrested.

Mahan said the BPD is waiting on search warrants in order to continue the investigation. “When we feel like the subject of the investigation also lives in that house, he also has an expectation of privacy,” the police chief said. “So, if he lived in the house, then we have to have a search warrant; we are leaning to side of caution. We’re getting search warrants for everything.”

The police chief said he is not releasing the names of the deceased, the suspect or the location of the murder until after all of the family members have been notified.

Story by Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: A Stephens County Sheriff’s deputy and a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper secure the location north of Breckenridge where a murder suspect was arrested Friday afternoon. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)