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Murder Warrants Issued For Lakeland Couple In Double Homicide
Polk County Sheriff's Office
Polk County deputies have obtained arrest warrants for John Odom and Susan Marie Wallen.
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Published: June 17, 2008
Updated: 06/17/2008 06:30 pm
TAMPA — Arrest warrants have been issued for John Eugene Odom and Susan Marie Wallen, the Lakeland couple who detectives said are suspects in the murder of two Lakeland men, Polk County sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said.
Odom and Wallen are wanted on two counts each of first-degree murder in connection to the deaths of Henry Todd Bruder and Dion Travis White.
Odom has been convicted of attempted murder, state records show. In November 1996, he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to nearly seven years behind bars.
Details on the 1996 Pasco County incident weren't available today.
Polk County deputies obtained the warrants for Odom and Wallen on charges alleging they stole Bruder's 2005 Nissan Altima.
Bruder, 30, was found tied up and shot to death Saturday morning at the Lakeland home he shared with White, his step-brother. Sunday morning, White's family discovered his body under bushes near the home.
Odom and Wallen had checked in to a Motor Inn in Ocala on Saturday and investigators obtained a search warrant to enter the room, a sheriff's office release states. When Ocala police's SWAT team arrived late Sunday, Odom and Wallen were not there.
Investigators learned that Odom and Wallen had left in a U-Haul they rented Sunday. They are thought to be riding north on I-75 in a 1997 Ford F-350 with Arizona license plate number AA67396.
Wallen's two sons, Josh Smith, 13, and Brandon Wallen, 8, are with her "while she flees law enforcement," the statement said.
Asked Monday about the children's safety, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said, "You don't know with two potential murderers, but one of the murderers is their mother. … They're with their mother, and we don't have any reason to believe they're in danger from that perspective."
Anyone with information can call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 1-800-226-0344 or 1-863-533-0344, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-8477.
Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.
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