From Tribune staff reports
BIRMINGHAM –Stephen Sean Hutcheson is still missing after his wife and children were found shot to death in their McCalla home, but Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies have moved forward with the case and obtained arrest warrants for the 47-year-old man.
According to chief deputy Randy Christian, Huctheson is now is wanted for capital murder in the shooting deaths of Doris Burchfield Hutcheson, 14 year old Kimberly Hutcheson and 12 year old Peyton Hutcheson.
There is no bond in these cases.
Christian said the investigation indicates that Stephen Hutcheson allegedly shot and killed his family Friday night.
Jefferson County sheriff’s office lieutenant David Agee said investigators believe Hutcheson shot his wife and daughter twice in the head while they slept.
Authorities allege he shot his son once in the neck and twice in the face.
Agee said it’s possible Peyton Hutcheson was awake when his dad shot him.
“Crime scenes tell a story. It’s quite possible the son was awake and saw what his father was about to do,” Agee said.
“He left in the car to meet a girlfriend before taking her to a hotel where they stayed together until Sunday morning,” Christian said in a statement released Wednesday. “The girlfriend has been located and questioned. She is cooperating with detectives.”
The girlfriend is not suspected of participating in the murders of the family, Christian said.
Stephen Sean Hutcheson is believed to be alive and on the run. His whereabouts are unknown.
Just before 7 p.mm on June 28, deputies were called to a residence in the 5900 block of Coleman Lake Road in McCalla to conduct a welfare check on a family.
Other family members had become concerned after not hearing from them since the previous Friday.
Deputies arrive and met with a relative. They forced entry into the home. Once inside they discovered the bodies of the tree family members. All three had been shot.
Hutcheson could not be located and a silver 2005 Dodge Stratus owned by the family was missing.
Investigators believe Hutheson could still be traveling in the silver 2005 Dodge Stratus with Alabama license plate 1AS7156.