Escambia County Homicide Suspect Captured in Texas After Days-Long Manhunt

A weeklong search for a man accused of gunning down his father-in-law inside a small Escambia County church ended on a Texas interstate, according to authorities in both states.

Investigators say 69-year-old Paul Phillips was shot at least once with a shotgun in late October at a rural holiness church near the Florida state line. Phillips died at the scene. Within hours, Escambia County deputies identified a suspect: Phillips’ son-in-law, 46-year-old Brett Richard Yeiter.

Yeiter left the area shortly after the shooting, prompting a multi-state search that stretched for several days. Investigators eventually tracked him more than 900 miles away, into the Texas Panhandle. Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped Yeiter’s vehicle on Interstate 40 near Amarillo, confirming he matched the description of the wanted man from Alabama.

“He was still driving the same vehicle he left the area in,” Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith said of the arrest, crediting cooperation between agencies across state lines for closing in on Yeiter before he could travel farther.

Yeiter was booked into the Carson County Jail in Texas, where he remained held awaiting a hearing on extradition back to Alabama to face a homicide charge. Formal charges were expected to be filed once he is returned to Escambia County custody.

Officials asked anyone with additional information about the events leading up to the shooting to contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

How extradition works

Both Alabama and Texas follow the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. A suspect held on another state’s warrant can waive extradition and be returned quickly; if the suspect contests it, the requesting state’s governor must issue a formal demand and the holding state’s governor must sign a warrant before the transfer can take place.