Photo by Sue WatsonBryan Lee Wells is escorted out of the Marshall County Courthouse by law enforcement following a plea of guilt to the murder of his mother in April 2023. Shown, from left are deputy David Taylor, Wells, Maj. Kelly McMillen. Shown, back row, Sheriff Kenny Dickerson, deputy Vern Riley, and Joe Mills, jail administrator.
Wells pleas to capital murder
Bryan Lee Wells, 48, of Holly Springs, pled guilty to a charge of capital murder before Circuit Court Judge Grady Tollison, Friday.
He was sentenced to life without parole, according to Sheriff Kenny Dickerson.
Wells was charged in April 2023 with the hatchet murder of his mother Kathy Tipler. He was arrested April 8 around 5 p.m. In the area of Highway 302 and Highway 305 in Olive Branch.
Wells lived with his mother on Price Loop in Holly Springs and was driving his mother’s white GMC at the time of his arrest.
His arrest was the result of a concerted manhunt by agents with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and assisted by the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), The Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force and the Olive Branch, Memphis, Tenn., and Shelby County, Tenn., police departments.
Prior to his arrest near Olive Branch April 8, Wells was found passed out behind the wheel when he was found by deputy Devonte Gary after a pedestrian called dispatch to report a reckless driver eastbound on I-22 was seen throwing beer bottles out of the vehicle Wells was driving. He was arrested, charged with DUI and bonded out, and his vehicle was impounded.
Authorities did not know at the time Wells was released on the DUI charge that his mother had been killed, Dickerson said. Tippler’s body had not been found at the time officers arrested Wells on the DUI charge, the sheriff said.
His mother Kathy Tippler, was found in her recliner by Well’s sister who reported the murder to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department while Wells was on the run.
Stabbing suspect charges upgraded
Coleman Vasser III, 28, of the 600 block of McClatchy Road, had his original charge of attempted 1st degree murder upgraded to 1st degree murder in the stabbing death of Mark Anthony Moore, 48, of the same address, according to sheriff Kenny Dickerson.
Moore was found lying on a neighbor’s carport Monday, July 24, bleeding from a knife wound and died Wednesday, July 26 at the Regional One Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn.
Moore’s remains have been sent to the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy.
Vasser remained in jail under $500,000 bond, Tuesday, August 1, while awaiting a hearing with MDOC on charges of violating house arrest in Lee County.
Manhunt results in arrest of Elkins
An intensive manhunt for Kirtis Dylan Elkins, who escaped from the vehicle of a Mississippi Department of Corrections officer Monday, July 24, around 11 a.m. Has been arrested, according to sheriff Kenny Dickerson.
He said Elkins was being transported from Benton County jail to DeSoto County jail where he was scheduled for a parole violation hearing when the inmate asked to use the bathroom. Elkins ran into the wooded area and escaped leading to a day-long manhunt which failed to locate the inmate.
Following a tip, Maj. Kelly McMillen contacted MDOC around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday as to the whereabouts of Elkins at a motel in Holly Springs July 25. Elkins was arrested by officers with MDOC around 7 p.m. Tuesday without incident, McMillen said.