Longview Man Arrested In Killing Of Elderly Married Couple

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) – Gregg County sheriff deputies arrested a 44-year-old man early Saturday morning and charged him with the murders of an elderly married couple who were beaten to death last month.

Brett Michael Birdwell of Longview did not resist arrest at his apartment, officials said. He was booked into the Gregg County Jail and remained there Saturday on a $1 million bond. No one answered the phone at his attorney’s office Saturday.

Birdwell is charged with capital murder in the deaths of two 83-year-old Gregg County residents whose truck was found later in Longview. Bennie Neil Killingsworth and his wife, June Whatley Killingsworth, died of blunt and sharp force injuries in their home April 18.

Several items were stolen from the home, including the couple’s truck. Robbery is still the only motive, Sheriff Maxey Cerliano said.

“This was a horrendous crime,” Cerliano said. “It’s been a difficult last 28 days and a lot of investigators haven’t taken a day off, working nights and weekends, trying to come to a resolution.”

Birdwell was jailed on a forgery charge a few weeks before the Killingsworths died, Gregg County jail records show. He also was jailed in late January on a grand jury indictment for forgery.

Birdwell also has convictions for misdemeanor theft, driving while intoxicated, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest and assault-family violence.