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Two brothers and a woman have been arrested in connection with the murder of three friends on a fishing trip in Florida.
The brothers, William Robert Wiggins, 21, and Tony “TJ” Wiggins, 26, were arrested Wednesday along with the former’s girlfriend, Mary Whittemore, 27.
They have been accused of killing Damion Tillman, 23, Keven Springfield, 30, and Brandon Rollins, 27, as they prepared for a fishing trip on a lake in Frostproof, Florida, last Friday. .
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At a press conference Saturday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the scene of the killings as “horrible” and called the deaths “massacre.”
Judd, who has worked in the sheriff’s department since 1972, added: “I have been to many murder scenes in my life, and this is among the worst.”
Neither Ms. Whittemore nor her boyfriend are cooperating with authorities, and investigators said the three separate police interviews were “inconsistent and contradictory.”
A Dollar General store employee told authorities that on Friday, Tillman said that he and his friends were meeting at the lake, and that the suspects, who were also in the store, overheard the conversation.
The sheriff said the three suspects followed Tillman to the lake and confronted Springfield, who said they had stolen his truck and sold the engine. The sheriff did not confirm whether this is true.
The 21-year-old told detectives that his brother shot all three victims and got him and his girlfriend to put Tillman in the back of a truck, before going to a local McDonald’s and ordering 10 double cheeseburgers. and two chicken sandwiches.
Rollins was still alive when the suspects left the area and called his father for help, but had already died when he was able to reach him.
The 26-year-old defendant was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, while his brother and girlfriend were charged with accessories after the fact.
According to CBS News, the suspects are due to appear in court on Thursday afternoon.
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