Suspect in US August killings could face death penalty

Photo: Suspect in US August killings could face death penalty

A man charged with slaying six people in a cross-country rampage in August will likely face death penalty after his indictment in two of the killings.

Paul Devoe, 44, was indicted Monday on a capital murder charge in the deaths of two teenage girls who were among four people found shot to death Aug. 26 in a home in Jonestown, near Austin.

The case qualifies for the death penalty because the indictment accuses Devoe of multiple killings. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has not said whether he will seek Devoe's execution.

Devoe is accused of first killing Marble Falls, Texas, bartender Michael Jay Allred, 41, on Aug. 24. He was indicted in that case earlier this month in Burnet County.

In Jonestown, he is accused of killing ex-girlfriend Paula Griffith, 46; her boyfriend, 48-year-old Jay Feltner; her 15-year-old daughter, Haylie Marie Faulkner; and 17-year-old Danielle Hensley, a friend. They were all shot in the head.

Devoe then headed for New York. In Pennsylvania, he is accused of killing Betty Jane Dehart, 81, at her home in Greencastle, in order to steal her car as he continued his trip. He was arrested Aug. 27 on at a friend's home on New York's Long Island.

Prosecutor Dayna Blazey said Devoe was indicted on only two of the four Jonestown killings to give prosecutors a second chance to charge Devoe if he is acquitted in the first case.

Devoe is being held in the Travis County Jail. He has said he did not remember shooting five of the six victims and that he was haunted by screams. His lawyers could not be reached for comment.