Accused

murderers Karl Bryan Hodge and Glen Simon

Hamilton can thank the very police who arrested

them for saving them from any possibility of the

death penalty for the grisly burning death of

Adolf A. Stubbs.

The

Fayette County Sheriff's Department traveled to

Jamaica several weeks ago to locate a third

suspect in the murder case. The suspect, Paul

"Pablo" Hylton, is currently in a

Jamaican jail and will eventually travel here to

stand trial for murder, said Maj. Bruce Jordan,

director of investigations for the Sheriff's

Department.

Jamaican

authorities wouldn't allow Hylton to be

extradited without assurances that he would not

face the death penalty, said District Attorney

Bill McBroom. So the arrest inadvertently forced

prosecutors to drop the death penalty against

Hodge and Hamilton.

Stubbs'

body was found inside a burning Ford Explorer on

Layden Avenue in north Fayette County March 31,

1999. The investigation revealed that Stubbs was

in the Atlanta area for a drug deal, and he was

last seen with one of the defendants transporting

approximately 150 pounds of marijuana in the

vehicle, according to law enforcement records.

McBroom

said guidelines require him to try all three of

the murder defendants on similar grounds, so he

chose to drop the death penalty option in

exchange for the shot at prosecuting Hylton.

"The

Fayette County Sheriff's Department did what I

never thought they could do: catch the third

guy," McBroom said.

Hylton,

who is still in custody in a Jamaican jail, was

arrested after four investigators from the

Fayette County Sheriff's Office traveled there

several weeks ago, Jordan said. Four officers

went for safety reasons, since they knew they

would not be allowed to carry weapons there, he

added.

The

investigators applied for the arrest through the

U.S. State Department at the American Embassy in

Jamaica, Jordan said. Hylton was later

apprehended by U.S. marshals and the Jamaican

police, he added.

The

main object of the trip was to secure DNA samples

from Stubbs' parents, Jordan said. Since Stubbs

wasn't a U.S. citizen, the DNA evidence is

crucial in helping prove that he was the murder

victim, he added. His body was so badly damaged

in the blaze that it was difficult to positively

identify the deceased, according to law

enforcement records.

But

the investigators knew Hylton's address before

they flew to Jamaica, thanks to help from natives

who wanted to see Hylton brought to justice for

the murder of Stubbs, who was also a Jamaican

native, Jordan added.

The

trip wasn't a working vacation, either, since the

Jamaica the investigators saw in Kingston

"isn't near what you see in the

commercials," Jordan said.

During

the investigation, deputies staked out a

residence in Clayton County where a 10-year-old

child tried to dispose of some evidence that

likely will be used in the trial, Jordan said.

The child was instructed by an adult to dump a

suitcase, containing marijuana and cash, in a

wooded area behind the residence.

Authorities

believe that evidence was used in the drug

transaction prior to Stubbs' murder, Jordan said.

That

stakeout led to the arrest of Clayton County

resident Demarsha Cullins, whose name was listed

on real estate that was used for some drug

transactions, Jordan added.

<!--

-----------