By Calvin Palmer
A 30-year-old man was charged with homicide yesterday in the killing of six people.
The victims are believed to be from the same family, living in two communities about 30 miles apart in Tennessee and Alabama.
Five people were found dead in two neighboring rural homes near Fayetteville in southern Tennessee yesterday, and a sixth body was discovered at a business in Huntsville, Alabama.
Jacob Shaffer, of Fayetteville, was found sitting on the front porch of one of the homes and taken into custody. He was charged with homicide and jailed without bond in Lincoln County, which borders Alabama.
Investigators are not releasing the names of the victims – four adults and two juveniles – until next of kin have been notified.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm said: “Most of the victims are suspected to be related. The motive of the killings is domestic.”
She added that the Tennessee victims were killed Friday night or early Saturday.
[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]
