Worried friend’s frequent 911 calls led police to suspect in fatal Columbus stabbing
A worried friend’s repeated 911 calls led police to the suspect in a fatal stabbing last year in midtown Columbus, according to court testimony Thursday.
A police sergeant said the woman calling 911 had been sharing a room Jan. 27 with Anthony Payne, 54, at the Efficiency Lodge, 1776 Boxwood Place, when Marcus Randell Wynn confronted Payne there about a job application.
The application was for work at a food processing plant in Phenix City, where Payne worked, Sgt. Donna Baker testified. Wynn, 48, spoke with Payne at the motel when Payne returned from work around 2 a.m., she said.
Seeing Wynn there, the woman called 911, the officer said. The witness told police Payne then left to go to the store.
At 2:54 a.m., police found Wynn at the Summit gas station, 3021 Macon Road, about four blocks from the lodge, and questioned him, Baker said. At 3:07 a.m., Payne arrived at the Summit, and officers spoke with him about seeing Wynn at the motel, the sergeant said.
Payne never returned to the lodge, Baker said, but Wynn did.
The woman called 911 at 4 a.m. to say Payne had not returned, and in 20 minutes called again to report Payne was not answering his phone, the detective said. A few minutes after that, Wynn tried to get into the room with Payne’s key, she said.
When the woman asked where Payne was, Wynn turned toward the Midtown Loop bridge over Lindsey Creek, about a block away, and said Payne was there, the witness told police.
She again called 911 to report what had just happened, but officers searching the area found nothing, Baker said.
At 2 p.m., the woman found Payne face-down in the creek, under the bridge, with wounds on his back, the officer said. The witness later picked Wynn’s picture from a six-photo lineup, identifying him with “100% certainty” as the likely suspect, the sergeant said.
Baker said investigators were able to build a case quickly because of the tight timeline of 911 calls and the woman’s account of what she had witnessed.
Police obtained a warrant for Wynn’s arrest on Feb. 22. He was captured Tuesday in Clayton County, Georgia, and extradited back to Columbus.
Suspect jailed without bond
Facing a murder charge Thursday in Columbus Recorder’s Court, Wynn declined to be represented by a lawyer, despite Judge Julius Hunter’s warning that anything he said could be used as evidence against him.
Wynn disputed Baker’s account of the events.
“Did she know I was already upstairs when Mr. Payne got off work?” he asked, telling the judge, “I understand she’s saying what the lady told her.”
Baker did not respond.
Asked to present any evidence in his defense, Wynn told Hunter, “I ain’t got nothing to say, sir, but I know I didn’t do this.”
Wynn became annoyed when a deputy told him not to speak while the judge was talking. “He’s telling me to be quiet,” he complained. “It’s a free country, man.”
Wynn will remain jailed without bond in as the case goes to Muscogee Superior Court.