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EDWARDSVILLE - The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office Tuesday afternoon announced it had charged Zachary Capers, 23, with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Michael Ladd, 79, and Dr. Lois Ladd, 68.
Capers' last known address was reportedly Collinsville, but he was described now as homeless. The Major Case Squad Deputy Commander Jeff Connor said Capers stabbed both Michael and Dr. Lois Ladd. Investigators also said there was no known connection to the Ladds.
The Major Case Squad was activated around 10:30 a.m. when they were called to the Ladd's home after a call to the Edwardsville Police to do a welfare check. Law enforcement learned of the double homicide of Michael and Dr. Lois Ladd Tuesday morning.
"The investigation was pretty intense," Connor said. "We had upwards of 35 investigators on this case which is very large. Some are still out doing leads right now. The case was presented to the Madison County State's Attorney's Office today and charges were filed in this case with the subject by the name of Zachary Capers. He is 23 years old with a last known address in Collinsville and he is known for living on the streets. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder."
There is no known connection between the person charged and Michael and Lois Ladd at this time, Connor said, but that is still being investigated. The public is asked to provide any information if a connection is known.
"We have a lot to learn about Mr. Capers," Connor said. "He is in custody. Capers was taken into custody on Sunday in an unrelated incident. It was the good police work of the investigators that was able to connect Mr. Capers and his arrest and link him to this crime. I can't say enough for the work that went on. We are not going to get into what the other incident is because it is still early on but there was some suspicious activity on his part and he was arrested for an outstanding warrant."Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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