'Louisiana slasher' suspect arrested without a struggle

The man believed to be the Louisiana Slasher, suspected of murdering at least six women and terrorising countless thousands during an 18-month spree, appeared in court yesterday after he was captured by police without a struggle.

It was revealed that while on the run he had posed as an upstanding, religious man and had organised Bible classes in the cheap motel where he was hiding.

Derrick Lee was due to be flown back to Louisiana last night. He was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday night by police acting on a tip-off. He was seized without a struggle outside a tyre store.

Richard Pennington, the Atlanta Police Chief, said: "We have taken a very dangerous person that is a serial murder suspect off the streets." Mr Lee, 34, is suspected to have murdered at least six women, five of whom were killed in southern Louisiana since September 2001, and a sixth, who was killed more than a decade ago. He is also suspected to be involved in the disappearance of another woman from southern Louisiana.

Police have been on the hunt for a serial killer for months and on Monday they identified Mr Lee as their suspect after a DNA sample he had voluntarily given two weeks earlier was shown to match those taken from several of the crime scenes. When police returned to Mr Lee's Louisiana home he had disappeared.

A tip-off led officers to Atlanta where they discovered Mr Lee had been staying at the $136-a-week (£83) Lakewood Motor Lodge. Residents said he had stayed there for at least the past week.

He may previously have travelled by bus to Chicago and had been working on construction sites and other contract jobs that paid cash.

Other guests at the motel described Mr Lee as a "smooth talker" who dated several women.

He apparently promised them cognac in an effort to lure them back to his room. The residents said he had made friends with many of them and that he had been grilling ribs and chicken at a recent party and even started a Bible study group.

"He didn't talk about violence," said one resident, Brenda Jones. "He talked about the Bible a lot. Let me tell you, he knew the Bible." Mr Lee was charged on Monday with the murder and rape of Carrie Yoder, a 26-year-old student at Louisiana State University. She became the serial killer's fifth suspected victim when she was murdered last March. A warrant issued for Mr Lee before his arrest said that DNA evidence indicated that the person who killed Ms Yoder also killed another four women, starting in September 2001.

Mr Lee appeared in court yesterday wearing handcuffs and a black, faded Fulton County Jail T-shirt. His head was lowered as he told Fulton County Superior Court judge Richard Hicks that he understood the charges against him and that he was not fighting his transfer to Louisiana by officers from Baton Rouge.

"I am ready to go back," he said. The judge replied: "I understand they are here and ready to take you back, so have a good trip."

The relatives of those Mr Lee is suspected of having murdered said they were delighted by news of his arrest. Ed White, the brother-in-law of Pam Kinamore, the serial killer's third victim, said his family was relieved. "We're ecstatic. This part of the nightmare is over," he said.

Ms Yoder's father, David, told CBS television: "We knew this day would come, and last night was the day."