WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsTBI Confirms Remains of Accused Murderer Found in Marion County
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Update 11am Nov 19th
MARION COUNTY, TENN (WRCB) -- Officials with The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation removed a Top Ten Most Wanted fugitive out of Marion County, TN off the list. They confirm the body of Michael Joseph Shirley was discovered in the Sequatchie River Wednesday shortly before 2:00 PM.
A positive identification of Shirley, 29, has been made after his body has been sent to the Medical Examiner for autopsy. Shirley was wanted for the beating and stabbing death of 27-year-old Brandi Duba. Law enforcement authorities found Duba’s body on November 3th in the mobile home she shared with Shirley. Her vehicle was also discovered burned and abandoned a short distance from the mobile home.
Update: 10:00 p.m. Nov. 18
Marion County, Tenn. (WRCB-TV) - The body of an accused murderer is on the way to Nashville to undergo an autopsy.
Investigators believe Michael Shirley bludgeoned and stabbed his girlfriend, Brandi Duba, while her two small children, ages four and six, were in the next room.
At this point, Marion County Sheriff Bo Burnett, says the cause of death is unknown.
Update: 5:30 p.m. Nov. 18
Deputies in Marion County believe they've found the remains of Michael Shirley, who is wanted for the murder of Brandi Duba in Whitwell more than two weeks ago.
Marion deputies and the TBI were canvassing the Sequatchie River Wednesday and found the body near Ketner's Mill.
A positive ID has not been made, but the sheriff tells us Shirley's wallet all but confirms it.
We have a crew in Marion County right working this story, and we'll have the latest tonight on Eyewitness News at 11 and right here on WRCBtv.com.
Update 8:30 p.m. Nov 6
New details on a mother, murdered in Whitwell.
The man wanted for questioning is now formally charged, and he's on the TBI's most wanted list.
Agents say Michael Shirley has a violent criminal history, and they're offering a reward on his whereabouts.
Wednesday 6 pm Nov 4th
There are still no leads in the case of a Whitwell mother murdered in her own home.
Brandi Duba was stabbed and beaten while her two children were asleep in the other room.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office is still looking for the woman's boyfriend, Michael Shirley.
Shirley was last seen leaving the scene of the crime driving Duba's black Grand Cherokee that was later found wrecked on Ketner Mill Road.
Shirley hasn't been seen since.
Authorities are calling Shirley a person of interest and asking the community to call 911 if they see him.
Detectives believe he is the link to finding Duba's killer.
"You never really know until we talk to him," said Detective Gene Hargis in an interview with Eyewitness News, "I feel like it's an important piece to the puzzle that we need to form the complete picture."
Detectives say it will be several weeks before lab results are back on evidence collected at the scene.
So far, they have received several calls from people claiming to know where to find Shirley.
Those tips have led to dead ends.
Tuesday 6pm Nov 3rd
Kelli Winchester and Crystal Campbell fight tears as they tell Eyewitness News about their friend 27 year-old Brandi Duba and her two children who are now without a mother.
"She was a really, really good mother," said Winchester who's brother is Duba's children's father, "she worked every day for what little she had."
"If it wasn't for her kids then it didn't matter," said Campbell.
Marion County authorities were called to Duba's home late Monday night when a neighbor noticed the front door wide open.
Inside they found Duba's two children, ages four and six, asleep on the couch. Their mother's body was in the other room.
She had been beaten with a bat and stabbed repeatedly.
Neighbors say they saw Duba's boyfriend, Michael Shirley, leaving just before police arrived.
"I was going in the drive way and passed him coming out," said Jeff Nunley, who lives next door, "I waved at him and he flicked me off. I had no idea what was going on or I would have gone over there."
Police now want to question Shirley after Brandi Duba's SUV was found just a few miles from her home.
Pieces of Duba's black Jeep Grand Cherokee are along Ketner Mill Road where it was crashed into a guard rail.
Police believe Michael Shirley was driving the SUV when he left the scene of the crime. Friends and family think he crashed the car on purpose, because Duba had threatened to leave him.
"He told me if she ever left him, or if he caught her cheating on him then he would kill her," said Nunley, "he told me that every day."
Tuesday 11am Nov 3rd
MARION COUNTY, TN (WRCB) -- Marion County authorities have identified the young mother found murdered in a mobile home and they have released details on the suspect wanted in her death.
Officers were at first dispatched to reports of a car crash on Ketner Mill Road Tuesday but they could not find the driver. While that investigation was underway, deputies were dispatched to 142 Cheri Circle Lot # 2 in Whitwell, TN to investigate an open door on a home.
Deputies found two small children asleep on the couch in the living room. They then found what appeared to be blood splatter in the kitchen. Deputies then found the body of 27 year old Brandi Dawn Duba in the bedroom. Upon investigation. detectives found that Duba was beaten and stabbed a number of times. Investigators also found out that the car found crashed on Ketner Mill Road was registered to Duba.
Now detectives are looking for Duba's boyfriend, Michael Shirley, to question him about the death. Duba has been sent to the State Medical Examiner in Nashville for an autopsy.
Shirley is described:
Tattoos all over his body including a white power tattoo on his back
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Marion County Sheriff's Department at 423-942-2525.
Tuesday 6am Nov 3rd
WHITWELL, TN (WRCB) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Marion County Sheriff's Office is investigating a homicide of a woman.
It happened early Tuesday morning in Whitwell at Cheri Circle and Highway 28.
No arrests have been made.
We will bring you more information as it becomes available.
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