Sheriff: Killer of 3 Fishing Buddies Is 'Pure Evil'

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says three arrests have been made in the horrific murder of three fishing buddies last week—and the alleged ringleader is "pure evil in the flesh." The sheriff said Wednesday that Tony "TJ" Wiggins, 26, who allegedly "did the damage," has been arrested, along with his younger brother, 21-year-old Robert Wiggins, and his girlfriend, 27-year-old Mary Whittemore, Fox reports. Judd said that after the elder Wiggins shot Brandon Rollins, 27; Keven Springfield, 30; and Damion Tillman, 23, on Friday night, the trio disposed of the gun and went to a McDonald's. The sheriff said the killings at a remote lake near Frostproof, 70 miles south of Orlando, apparently stemmed from a dispute with Springfield over a truck engine, WFLA reports.

Judd said the three suspects were behind Tillman in a line at a Dollar General, where Tillman was buying fishing supplies, and they followed him to the lake after overhearing him tell the clerk he was going fishing with Springfield. TJ Wiggins is a "thug" with criminal convictions going back to when he was 12 and more than 230 felony charges on his record, the sheriff said Wednesday. "This is a guy who can hurt you because it's the right thing for him to do in that moment in time with his three brain cells," he said. TJ Wiggins, who was out on bail after a March arrest for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, faces charges including first-degree murder. Whittemore has been charged with being an accessory after the fact. The younger Wiggins, who is the only one cooperating with investigators, had been charged with being an accessory and with evidence tampering. (More Florida stories.)