ATLANTA—A Mississippi man accused of killing five people with an ax and gunshots in a south Alabama home told investigators he parked in the woods nearby and injected methamphetamine “ice” into his veins shortly beforehand, new court records reveal.
Laneta Lester was awakened by the sound of a gunshot and saw her ex-boyfriend Derrick Dearman kill the other adult occupants of the home: three men and two women, according to search warrant affidavits.
Dearman gave “a full confession” when he was interviewed after the slayings, detectives say in the affidavits.
Dearman, 27, of Leakesville, Mississippi, has pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping.
He’s accused of attacking the victims as they slept Aug. 20, then kidnapping Lester. She had recently moved into the house in the small town of Citronelle, Alabama, to escape a violent relationship with Dearman.
