Serial killing suspect arrested in Atlanta

ATLANTA -- The man wanted in the serial killings of five women was arrested in Atlanta on Tuesday, ending a monthslong hunt for a suspect in a case that terrified women across Louisiana.

Derrick Todd Lee, 34, was arrested at 8:30 p.m. by Atlanta police officers acting on a tip received by the FBI, Atlanta police chief Richard Pennington said Tuesday night. He was found wandering around a tire shop, Pennington said.

He said they approached him and asked for identification, which Lee produced without incident. He was unarmed, police said.

"We have taken a very dangerous person that is a serial murder suspect off the streets," Pennington said.

The chief said Lee could be returned to Louisiana as early as Wednesday.

Lee is the suspect in the killing at least five southern Louisiana women since September 2001, and he is suspected in a sixth death more than a decade ago and the disappearance of another woman in a Baton Rouge, La., suburb. It was those two cases that led police to Lee.

The serial killings unnerved Louisiana women and triggered a 10-month DNA dragnet in which police took cheek scrapings and swabbings from more than 1,000 men.

Residents at the Lakewood Motor Lodge in Atlanta said Lee had spent at least the last week there, charming residents, grilling ribs and chicken at a party, and setting up a Bible study.

Neighbors described Lee as a handsome, smooth-talking man who dated several women and promised them cognac if they would come to his room.

"This guy, he was handsome," said Bubukutty Idicalla, manager of the motel, where Lee paid $135 cash for a week in a one-room efficiency. "He would go to the ladies and say, 'You married? You married?'"

As he abruptly left his room on Monday, Lee told residents his mother was sick and he had to go home to Louisiana.

Over the last few weeks, Lee traveled by bus from Louisiana to Chicago and then to Atlanta, said U.S. Marshal Richard Mecum. Lee has been in Atlanta at least a week.

Lee was charged Monday with murder and aggravated rape in the killing of Carrie Yoder, 26, a Louisiana State University student who became the serial killer's fifth suspected victim in March. A fugitive warrant issued for Lee before his arrest says DNA evidence indicates the same person who killed Yoder killed four other women starting in September 2001.

Although the warrant accuses Lee only of Yoder's murder, it says DNA evidence removed from her body matched that taken from the other four victims.

Lee made friends with many of the 50 or so residents of the Atlanta motel and was known as a lady's man.

"He didn't talk about violence," said resident Brenda Jones. "He talked about the Bible a lot. Let me tell you, he knew the Bible."

Motel residents said Lee didn't have a car and got rides to a pawn shop, where he sold gold jewelry. His behavior didn't stand out around the motel.

"I prayed with this man. I gave him rides," said Valerie Thwaites, a maid and receptionist at the motel. "He was very gorgeous and very kind to me."

Lee entertained several women in his room, neighbors said. He would often compliment their hair and offer them drinks.

"He was nice, and he had a pretty woman stay the night," Idicalla said. "I could not believe it when the police came and said he was wanted for killing women. None of us could believe it."