Marshals Arrest Harry Mapps, Suspect In 3 Rye Slayings
ROLAND, Okla. (CBS4) - The man suspected in the slayings of three people in a small southern Colorado town has been captured in Oklahoma.
The U.S. Marshal's Office announced the arrest of Harry Mapps on Sunday. Authorities arrested the former truck driver and handyman at a motel near Interstate 40 in the town of Roland.
Mapps, 59, was one of the most sought-after fugitives in the country. He was wanted on charges of first-degree murder in the Nov. 27 shooting deaths of three people, plus arson for a fire where the bodies of the three were found. The murders and fire took place at a residence outside the town of Rye in Pueblo County.
Officials said they believe the fire was set at the home to cover up the shootings.
Reginald Tuttle, 51, Kim Tuttle, 55, and their daughter Dawn Roderick, 33, were all killed. The Tuttles owned the home and Roderick lived in Pueblo.
Mapps was a family friend who had worked for Tuttle's trucking company and was staying with him, authorities said.
Investigators say Mapps cashed checks bearing the name of one of the victims in Pueblo and La Junta on the day of the fire.
The arrest has everyone in Pueblo County breathing easier, but Undersheriff J.R. Hall said the investigation will continue.
"It doesn't stop with his arrest. We want justice for the family -- for the victims in this case," Hall said.
Roderick's husband Mark Roderick said he was separated from his wife and their children were staying with him the night of the murders. He said his in-laws were loving and caring people, and that he and the children were struggling to deal with the murders.
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Kim Tuttle was a kitchen employee at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo.
In addition to the murder and arson charges, Mapps faces theft, identity theft and forgery charges, plus a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
"There will be a lot of people who will breathe easier knowing Harry Carl Mapps is in custody," Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk M. Taylor said in a prepared statement.
Taylor said Mapps will be brought to Pueblo soon to face charges.
