OTTUMWA, Iowa — Authorities say a man found hiding in a closet has been charged in a deadly Ottumwa stabbing.
The Wapello County prosecutor’s office said Friday that 42-year-old Douglas Raymond Spurgeon is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 55-year-old Gerald William Sapp.
Police said in a news release that officers responded to a 911 call Thursday and found Sapp in an alley behind a home suffering from multiple stab wounds. Sapp had been working on a vehicle.
Police obtained a search warrant at a nearby home, where Spurgeon lived, and found him in a closet there several hours later. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and arrested early Friday.
He is jailed without bond and has not been assigned an attorney yet.
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