Stephen Marlow, 39, of Haverstraw Avenue was captured Saturday night by Lawrence, Kansas, police with little resistance.
An officer in Lawrence, about 9½ hours from Dayton, noticed a vehicle around 9 p.m. matching the description of Marlow’s white Ford Edge. As officers approached in other vehicles, Marlow turned into a parking lot, exited his SUV and was safely taken into custody, police said.
“We are extremely proud of our officers’ work tonight and thankful for the peaceful outcome,” Laura McCabe, a Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman, said in a release.
Police have not said whether Marlow was armed at the time of his arrest.
Butler Twp. Police Chief John Porter said there were concerns about Marlow turning himself in after a video surfaced online from Marlow after the shooting, Porter said.
“We understand the ideas and languages in the video are startling. And that is why our investigators are working around the clock to ensure Mr. Marlow is brought into custody,” Porter said before his arrest.
In the rambling video that the Dayton Daily News made an editorial decision not to publish, Marlow said he believes his family was “operated on with mind control.”
Porter said Saturday night his department would begin extradition procedures to bring Marlow back to Ohio. Christina Blevins, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office who was assisting Butler Twp. police, said the department would not be releasing additional details on Sunday.
Marlow is the only suspect in the shooting deaths of Clyde Knox, 82, Eva “Sally” Knox, 78, Sarah Anderson, 41, and Kayla Anderson, 15, Porter said. The Knoxes were killed in their home and the Andersons were killed at a separate home on Hardwicke Place near the Haverstraw Avenue house owned by Marlow’s parents, Porter said.
Two residents who declined to be identified publicly said they were grateful to police for apprehending Marlow.
One man who was taking a walk on Haverstraw Avenue said it was “amazing” they found Marlow. “I’m grateful they were able to find him,” he said. “I wish more could have been done to prevent this. I’m just thankful. It’s been tough to sleep lately.”
He described the victims as two great families and that 15-year-old Kayla “had a lot going for her and still had a lot more to go.”
Another resident who has lived for the past seven years near the home of Marlow as well as where the victims were gunned down, said “It’s pretty relieving and sad at the same time.” He said police told him of Marlow’s capture about 10:15 p.m. Saturday. “I was able to sleep last night.”
The resident said he and Marlow have had a number of verbal altercations over the years, adding that Marlow had threatened him after getting worked up. The resident said Marlow has had various shouting matches with several other residents in the neighborhood. The resident said it had gotten to the point that he kept his garage door shut and the garage windows blocked off. In addition, the resident kept track of Marlow’s coming sand goings to prevent running into each other.
The resident said that on Friday he was getting ready to mow his lawn and decided to have a second cup of coffee when he heard what sounded like fireworks. Then he heard some more behind his house. He said he opened his garage door and saw the victims, Sarah Anderson and Kayla Anderson, on the ground as they just returned home.
He also said he spoke with neighbor Clyde Knox, another of the victims, nearly every day and described Knox and his wife Sally as “very kind people.” The couple had seven grandchildren.
The Butler Twp. neighborhood sits about a mile west of the Miller Lane development and Interstate 75, just south of Little York Road.
Vandalia school superintendent Robert O’Leary said the district has provided counselors and therapists for students and their families and will continue this through next week.
A prayer event has been organized in the community and will be held at 5 p.m. Monday in the Butler High School parking lot. The event is meant to show a message of hope, strength, love and support amid the recent tragedy, according to a Facebook post by the city of Vandalia.
Marlow graduated from Butler High School in 2001 and graduated from the University of Kentucky in Lexington in 2005, according to a background check obtained by the Dayton Daily News.
Following college graduation he lived and worked in Chicago as a trader from 2006 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked at several companies during this time.
What we know about Stephen Marlow
In July 2019, police said he broke into a Damian Street home in Vandalia and threatened harm to a person there with a weapon. Marlow was convicted of aggravated burglary and aggravated menacing in February 2020.
He was sentenced to five years of community control but that probation was terminated Feb. 9, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
During the first part of his probation, he was ordered to have a mental health evaluation and was under intense supervision until December 2020, according to court records.
Knox funeral services announced
Funeral services for Clyde W. Knox, 82, and his wife Eva “Sally” Knox, 78, will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Vandalia United Methodist Church, 200 S. Dixie Drive, in Vandalia. Interments will occur at Forest Hills Memorial Gardens in Tipp City.
The Knoxes are survived by their daughter and son-in-law, their son, seven grandchildren and several friends and family members.
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