Lee County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday detained the brother of a man who has been wanted on a murder warrant for nearly 30 years, believing for a time that he was the fugitive they’d been seeking since 1995.
The situation unfolded after deputies received word that Willard Eugene Smith was in town for the funeral of his brother at Liberty Chapel Church in Chatham County. Smith has been wanted on an open warrant for first degree murder since the June 1995 shooting death of Rodney Cotten on East Forest Oaks Road off U.S. 1 near the Lee-Chatham County line.
According to a Facebook post by Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes, deputies attempted to locate Smith in the church’s parking area after the service, and actually took a person into custody…