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Sheriff: Double homicide suspect claims two people he killed in Winter Haven were 'number 7 and 8'

Posted at 1:12 AM, Oct 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-15 12:12:55-04

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — An armed-and-dangerous man who was wanted in a Winter Haven double homicide is now in custody, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a double homicide investigation near the corner of 16th Street Northeast and Avenue D Northeast in Winter Haven Monday night. Deputies identified 35-year-old Stanley "Woo Woo" Mossburg as the double homicide suspect.

RELATED: Deputies investigating double homicide in Polk County, suspect on the loose

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said on Sunday night, a man was returning to his Winter Haven home from work around 10:30 p.m. When he got home, Mossburg was inside the house and had just killed two other people living there, Sheriff Judd said.

According to Sheriff Judd, Mossburg reportedly told the man who just got home from work, "I'm not going to kill you because God told me not to."

The man was held captive by Mossburg overnight.

On Monday afternoon, Mossburg stole the man's car and fled the scene. Mossburg reportedly told the man who was held captive that the two people he murdered in the Winter Haven area were "number seven and eight."

Sheriff Judd went on to say that the Polk County Sheriff's Office can't confirm those numbers.

"We have no way to verify that," Sheriff Judd added. "Only that Stanley Mossburg said the two he murdered in the Winter Haven area were number seven and eight."

According to Judd, Mossburg is also wanted for a different murder in Greene County, Tennessee. Judd said Mossburg is suspected of killing a man and leaving him behind in a laundromat in the area on October 1. He reportedly fled Tennessee and ended up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where his sister lives. Judd added his sister bought Mossburg a bus ticket to Orlando.

Sheriff Judd said Mossburg is a "spree killer" and that deputies found the victim's car that he stole and abandoned on Monday. The Polk County Sheriff's Office set up a perimeter around the double homicide scene in hopes of finding Mossburg.

On Tuesday morning, around 5:10 a.m., the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Mossburg was taken into custody by PCSO Swat after being barricaded in a "house on Avenue C NE near 16th Street NE that belongs to an acquaintance of his."

Mossburg will be booked into the Polk County Jail later this morning, according to PCSO.

Officials have not released the identities of the two people who were killed in Winter Haven.

Detectives think double homicide suspect has killed at least 3