Suspect is arrested in another student killing

Suspect is arrested in another student killing

The man accused of killing one of the students confessed, authorities said.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville was killed at her off-campus apartment, and a former student she knew was arrested in Oklahoma, police and the university said.

Katharine Wood, 24, a senior English major from Greenbrier, was found dead Sunday morning by police investigating a caller’s report that a woman in her apartment complex seemed to be arguing with someone, police and the university said. The apartment complex is a few blocks off campus.

University Chancellor John White said the campus community grieved with Wood’s family and friends.

“The loss of any student is a loss for the entire campus,” White said in a statement. “But a death under these circumstances is such a tragic waste.”

Police did not say how Wood died. Her body was being sent to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s Office, said police Sgt. Shannon Gabbard.

Almost 10 hours after her body was discovered, Oklahoma State Highway Police officers arrested Zachariah Marcyniuk, 28, of Fayetteville, on a first-degree murder charge in western Oklahoma.

University spokesman Steve Voorhies said Monday that Marcyniuk was a junior at Arkansas but withdrew last month.

Gabbard said Monday that Marcyniuk and Wood had been acquainted or had been romantically involved at some point.

The officer said investigators began looking for Marcyniuk for questioning on the basis of that relationship. While they were looking for him, Gabbard said, they learned that he had a criminal history that included charges in 2005 of first-degree false imprisonment, aggravated assault, violation of a protection order, burglary, theft of property and first-degree criminal mischief.

Arkansas police obtained a warrant for Marcyniuk’s arrest and issued a description of his car. Marcyniuk was arrested by an Oklahoma trooper who stopped a car matching that description for speeding on Interstate 40, authorities said.

Marcyniuk was being held at the Beckham County Jail in Sayre, Okla., about 300 miles west of Fayetteville. Gabbard said police were “aggressively” pursuing Marcyniuk’s extradition to Arkansas.

Wood is the third college woman to be killed in the past week. Eve Carson, 22, the student body president at the University of North Carolina, was found Wednesday morning lying on a street about a mile from campus. She had been shot several times. Police are searching for a man photographed using her ATM card.

Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk, 18, was found shot on the side of an off-campus road last Tuesday night, and her car was found burning in a campus parking lot. A man has been charged in her death.

Authorities say the man accused of killing Burk confessed to shooting her.

Courtney Lockhart’s statement was read at a court hearing Monday. He says in the statement that he abducted Burk on the Auburn campus, robbed her and attempted to rape her before he shot her.

Detectives investigating Carson’s killing are trying to enhance two photos that show a possible suspect, officials said Monday.

The cash machine surveillance photos show a young man in a baseball cap and hooded sweat shirt using Carson’s ATM card and driving a sport utility vehicle that may be her Toyota Highlander, authorities said.

Detectives also believe a dark shape in the photo may be a male passenger in the rear seat.

“We have been exploring ways to enhance the quality of this photo in an effort to learn more about this person,” police said in a statement.