A Texas man has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the death of a woman found with severe facial trauma in the Brazos River last month. Authorities allege Michael Wayne Hatcher, 50, killed Leah Dawn Adams, 32, after claiming she had been flirting with him.
Investigators were called to the scene on August 27, when Adams was found deceased in the river at Oaks Crossing in Mineral Wells. Her vehicle, a Dodge Ram 1500, was discovered engulfed in flames nearby. Court documents indicate that investigators found a blanket beside Adams' body, an open knife on the shoreline, and her driver's license downstream. The trauma to Adams' face may have been caused by a gunshot wound, according to an affidavit obtained by WFAA-TV and the Star-Telegram.
Police traced Adams' last known phone location to Hatcher's residence in Mineral Wells. His live-in girlfriend told officers she found Hatcher on a wooden bench in their front yard early on the morning Adams was discovered. Officers observed a stain consistent with blood on the front of Hatcher's jeans.
Hatcher told investigators he met Adams at the river the night before and that she initiated flirting. He stated he rode with her in her truck to a gas station, and they later returned to the river, where he claimed he left sometime after midnight. Hatcher's girlfriend consented to a search of the Ford F-150 he drove to the river, where investigators reportedly found a small drop of blood on the passenger seat, a blood-soaked shirt, and a backpack. A blue journal containing Adams' expired driver's license fell from the backpack. Two firearms were also seized from the vehicle.
Authorities later executed a search warrant at Hatcher's home, recovering additional items including human hair and a blood-stained blue shirt. Hatcher was arrested and is being held without bond at the Palo Pinto County Jail.
Adams, a mother of three, had spent the last decade working as a phlebotomist. Her family has expressed a need for answers regarding the circumstances of her death, with her father stating that something significant appears to be missing from the current account of events.