BELL COUNTY, Texas — A second suspect connected to the shooting and burning death of a man in Bell County was arrested Thursday, deputies said.
Sheriff Eddy Lange of the Bell County Sheriff's Office identified the victim as 30-year-old Michael Allen Vanlandingham of Copperas Cove.
Lange named two suspects in the killing -- Owen Thomas Free III, 37, and Dana Francis Walcott, 39. Walcott was taken into custody Tuesday. Free was arrested around 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
Vanlandingham was found dead on Sept. 17 in a burn pit in Bell County in an area called "the compound." Investigators said he had been shot twice in the head and his body was burned beyond recognition.
According to a Bell County arrest affidavit, deputies questioned residents in "the compound" and a man who lives in one of the trailers told them a man named "Tommy" had stopped by earlier in the day with two other men. The witness said "Tommy" had told him they had brought 'Mike' from a local hotel to the compound to kill him and that they suspected he was cooperating with the police, according to the affidavit.
The witness said he later heard a gunshot and walked to the back of the property and found a human body in the burn pit, the affidavit said.
The witness identified "Tommy" as Owen Thomas Free III from a photographic lineup. He also identified one of the men with Free as Dana Francis Walcott Jr.
The affidavit said the man also told deputies the victim was taken from a local hotel. Deputies later went to the hotel and obtained surveillance video that showed Free and Walcott Jr. escorting a man from a room, the affidavit said. The affidavit also said the man appeared to have his hands restrained and a vehicle associated with the room was tied to Vanlandingham.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Walcott Sept. 25 in Harker Heights and charged him with murder.
"His bond was set at $1,000,000," Lange said at a news conference Thursday.
Free, also known as 'Tommy Knocker' was arrested Thursday and charged with murder.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Bell County Crime Stoppers at 254-526-TIPS (8477).