Matthew B. Kidd being arrested in Mississippi (Rankin County Sheriff’s Office).
A 35-year-old man in Mississippi will spend the rest of his days behind bars for the cold-blooded killing of two men whom he fatally shot inside their homes.
Rankin County Circuit Judge Dewey Arthur on Tuesday ordered Matthew Brian Kidd to serve life without parole in a state correctional facility for the slayings of 31-year-old William Earl Morris and 31-year-old Christian Storey.
Arthur handed down the sentence after Kidd pleaded guilty to one count of capital murder in Morris’ death and one count of murder in Storey’s death, authorities announced.
The Morris murder
According to a news release, Rankin County sheriff’s deputies on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 27, responded to a call about a deceased person in the 3300 block of Highway 80. Upon arriving at the address, first responders located an adult male — later identified as William Earl Morris — suffering from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said they identified suspects in the case, one of whom was Kidd.
Investigators learned that earlier in August, Kidd’s truck had broken down on Morris’ property in the 3300 block of Highway 80, Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT reported. Kidd left the vehicle for a period of time and when he came back to get it, he accused Morris of taking items from the car.
Kidd reportedly threatened Morris’ life multiple times and attempted to fight the other man, who refused and told Kidd to get the vehicle off of his property within 24 hours. Morris was gunned down in his home before the month was out.
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During the investigation, Kidd’s ex-girlfriend reportedly provided police with text messages from Kidd expressing anger toward Morris and indicating that he would be “trying to stir the pot,” regarding the situation. She also confirmed that Kidd had a 9 mm handgun, which matched the murder weapon.
The Storey murder
On the evening of Aug. 28, the Brandon Police Department responded to a reported shooting on Gayden Street, the circumstances of which they said “closely matched the shooting out in the country,” referring to Morris’ murder.
“Information sharing and cooperation resulted in connecting the two murders,” authorities said. “Brandon Police Department and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office worked together and developed evidence that Matthew Brian Kidd was the suspect in both cases.”
A tipster who recognized Kidd from the local news on the morning of Aug. 29 called 911 and told authorities that they saw Kidd checking into a hotel in Brandon. Brandon Police Department and Rankin County Sheriff’s Office SWAT teams responded to the hotel and executed a search warrant where they were able to take Kidd into custody without incident.
The motive for Storey’s murder reportedly remains unknown to authorities.
