Police believe they have found the man who stabbed a Daytona Beach couple to death earlier this month — all thanks to the help of a waitress who served the suspect hours before his alleged crimes.
As we previously reported, a pedestrian found the bodies of a married couple, who have now been identified as Terry and Brenda Aultman, in the early hours of Sunday, March 6. The pair had been riding their bicycles home before their deaths. Of course, the witness initially assumed that they had been victims of a hit and run, but when police arrived at the scene, they soon realized something far more vicious and gruesome happened to the two. According to Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young, the victims had “multiple stab wounds and lacerations,” as well as had both of their throats slashed.
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Their death had been a total mystery to law enforcement. They ruled out the crime as a robbery since Terry and Brenda still had their valuables, there didn’t seem to be any motive at all. All police had was a potential person of interest, vaguely described as a male of unknown age and race wearing some light-colored pants and carrying a backpack. Young previously said:
“No one saw anything, no one heard anything.”
It sounded like getting justice for Terry and Brenda was going to be an uphill climb. But now, it looks like authorities have found the person allegedly responsible for this heinous crime…
It all went down last Tuesday when police released pictures and video of their person of interest. According to WESH 2, Valerie Court saw the images on the news and soon realized she had actually served the man at a restaurant on Ocean Walk in Daytona Beach on Saturday, March 5 — just hours before the alleged crime. Valerie remembered he had used a credit card to pay for his meal.
Valerie claimed the man sat at her table for a late lunch, dressed in the same outfit and carrying the same backpack as the clips on the news:
“I thought maybe he wanted to be left alone, because he was short-worded with me, so I just kept his tea filled up.”
According to Valerie, the credit card read “my temporary pay card” and did not have a name on it. However, the server says he did sign and initial the receipt with “JM.” Police were then able to track down the man, identified as Jean Macean, to a location in Orlando, where he was eventually arrested. Valerie told WESH 2:
“I wanted to catch this guy. I wanted to help the police department and help the community. I knew I had valuable information.”
Valerie contacted the police with the details of her interaction with Macean before they offered up a $50,000 reward. And while her information may have been crucial to leading to an arrest, it is unknown if the rewards will be given to Valerie. However, she noted to the outlet that she did not do it for the money:
“I didn’t do it for the reward, I did it for the police department to help get a dangerous person off the street.”
Although Macean is in custody now, Valerie told the outlet that she is still frightened by the situation but ultimately relieved that the suspect has been identified and caught at this time.
Following his arrest, WESH 2 reported that Daytona Beach Police Chief Young said Macean confessed to killing Terry and Brenda. He now faces two counts of first-degree murder, plus a third charge of being an “illegal immigrant.” Officials have not released additional information on the charge, but court records obtained by the outlet showed that he is from Haiti but has a US citizenship.
Hopefully, this update will bring some peace to the Aultmans’ loved ones as they continue to mourn their tragic loss.
[Image via NBC News/YouTube, Daytona Beach Police Department, WESH 2 News/YouTube]
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