HOLCOMB – A 22-year old man has confessed to the brutal murders of a disabled former police officer and his live-in caregiver in Holcomb earlier this month, Grenada County Sheriff Alton Strider said this week.
John Wayne McChristion, is being held without bond, after being charged with two counts of capital murder in connection with the deaths of Jimmy Stauddy and Martha Stoker. The two were found stabbed multiple times, by Stauddy’s wife, in their home, on Sunday, Nov. 15.
According to Sheriff Strider, an anonymous tip led police to McChristion after he was reportedly seen burning clothes in his back yard.
The FBI became involved in the investigation because in addition to Stauddy, 69, being a minister, he also had an extensive career in law enforcement. Stauddy was a former Grenada Police Captain and later an investigator with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics in Greenwood. Stauddy had also reached the rank of Master Sergeant with the Mississippi National Guard. Authorities initially thought the slayings may have been related to Stauddy’s career as an officer.
When he was killed, Stauddy was suffering from the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease.
According to printed reports, Stauddy’s wife, Scottie returned to their home on Sparta Road, about 4 p.m., on Nov. 15, after shopping with family members in Jackson. When she entered the residence, she found her husband in bed. Reportedly, his throat and stomach had been cut open and he sustained numerous stab wounds to the body. Stoker, his caregiver, was found nearby on the floor with similar stab wounds.
Authorities said there were no signs of forced entry and no items were reported missing from the home.
Police searched the suspect’s home after being tipped off to suspicious activity on the premises. McChristion was later arrested and reportedly confessed that he went to the Stauddy home looking for money.
“He told our investigators that he was trying to get some money for drugs and went to the house but got into it with the caretaker,” Strider told the Grenada Star. “McChriston previously worked for Stauddy for a brief time, [but] at the time of the murders, the suspect was unemployed.”
Strider said McChristion has a history of drug related arrests.
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