WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — The man accused of brutally killing seven people in Westmoreland has been charged with the murder of an eighth victim.
Investigators believe Michael Cummins also killed James Fox Dunn Jr.
According to court documents, authorities were called to a fire on the 1200 block of Ransom Mandrell Road in Westmoreland where Dunn Jr. lived in a cabin on April 17.
The body of a man was found about 75 yards from the cabin with no head. The head was found 25 yards from the body. It was later identified as Dunn Jr.
An autopsy on Dunn Jr. indicated blunt force trauma to the head.
Officials say a missing rifle belonging to Dunn Jr. was found at the scene on Charles Brown Road where multiple murder victims were found on April 27.
Police found the bodies of six people inside that home.
- David and Clara Cummins - Cummins' parents
- Charlie Hosale - Cummins' uncle
- Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee - Charlie Hosale's girlfriend
- 12-year-old Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee - Rachel's daughter
- Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols - Rachel's mother
Another victim was also found in the home but was still alive and was rushed to the hospital. She was identified by family members as Cummins' grandmother Mary Sue Hosale.
Later that day, police learned of another crime scene on Luby Brown Road where Shirley B. Fehrle was found dead inside her home; officials say she died of blunt force trauma to the head. Police say Cummins had stolen her vehicle a few days prior.
Cummins allegedly borrowed a pair of "girls" shoes from his cousin Duwayne Robinson, and was reported to have worn them to his uncle's residence the day before the seven bodies were found. Police say the tread pattern on those shoes matches a shoe impression "in what appears to be blood" in the home on Charles Brown Road.
Court documents show Cummins made statements that he had stolen property from Dunn Jr.
Detectives from the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office served an arrest warrant for the first degree murder of Dunn Jr. to Cummins when he was released from the hospital where he was being treated for a gunshot wound.
He suffered the injury when officers shot him during a large manhunt in which Cummins was armed with a hatchet.
Cummins was officially arrested and booked into jail Friday evening on seven counts of first degree murder and one count of criminal homicide.
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