DNA match leads to
double murder arrest

Hertford County, N.C. - The Franklin man charged with murdering two elderly sisters in Hertford County, N.C. walked into court Friday morning to be arraigned, telling WAVY.com on his way that he is innocent.

WAVY.com's Mary Kay Mallonee, who has been following the case since Nellie Bradley, 71, and Dorothy "Dot" Hobbs, 74, were found stabbed to death on August 4th, 2006, asked William Curtis Futrell "Did you kill those two elderly sisters?"

The suspect, keeping his head low and his eyes aimed at the ground as he walked toward court flanked by deputies responded, "No, I did not."

Futrell, 34, claims he never met the sisters and does not know why he was arrested.

Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan told WAVY.com he arrested Futrell Thursday morning in his hometown of Franklin. Sheriff Vaughan said it was a DNA match that gave him the break he had been waiting for since a passerby found the women's bodies two years and three months ago.

Investigators say soon after the murders they found the killers blood, his DNA, in the sisters' car, but at the time they did not have a name to match with that DNA.

A year and a half later police in Northhampton County, N.C. made a routine arrest for a stolen car. It was really no big deal, the car thief, William Curtis Futrell, had no serious record.

After Futrell's arrest this past January for that car larceny he was convicted of the charge in April. Then, forced in May, as a felon, to submit a sample of his DNA.

Six months later, when the North Carolina state lab finally ran that DNA sample through its database, it came back a match to the DNA of the suspect in the murders of Dot and Nellie.

Sheriff Vaughan said his search for the killer was finally, suddenly over when his Lieutenant got the call from the state lab late Wednesday.  “He called me and said, 'I got good news.' We met in the hall and hugged. We were happy. It was great.'”

Since the very beginning Sheriff Vaughan has remained extremely close to the sisters' family, calling them and emailing them regularly.

Linda Tuck, Dot and Nellie's younger sister said, "Sheriff Vaughan told us he's only cried twice before at murder scenes and my sisters' murders was one of them. He said when he saw how they must have suffered, tears ran down his face.”

Tuck said her family is relieved to know a suspect has been caught. "We have been so afraid that someone else would get hurt and that's the last thing Dot and Nellie would have wanted. They were the two most caring ladies you could ever meet in your life."

Sheriff Vaughan told WAVY.com his work on this case is only half over now. He still has a lot of questions to answer and clues to piece together.

One thing is clear though, the friendship the Sheriff and the sisters' family formed in crisis is a bond that will last forever. The devastated family and the devoted lawman.