Store security guard who stopped suspects from shoplifting happy he could help solve Alabama murder

KENOSHA/ALABAMA (WITI) -- He stopped two people who were trying to steal vodka and energy drinks from a Kenosha Piggly Wiggly store -- and in the process, helped police solve a murder in Alabama!

It all started last Tuesday, January 13th -- when Kenosha police received a complaint about a vehicle parked in the 2100 block of 89th Street -- blocking a bus stop. Police checked the license plate information, and it was learned the car's owner, 53-year-old David Hayes had been reported missing out of Cullman County, Alabama.

Less than an hour later, police were called out to a Piggly Wiggly store near 80th Street and 22nd Avenue for a retail theft complaint.

Matthew Thrasher and Stephanie Underwood

There, they found 33-year-old Matthew Thrasher and a 30-year-old Stephanie Underwood, accused of taking vodka and energy drinks from the store -- and trying to leave without paying. Store security officers detained the two before police arrived.

Chad Davis, a security officer at the store, says Thrasher and Underwood's body language immediately made him suspicious. As he watched the Piggly Wiggly store's surveillance cameras last Tuesday, those suspicions were confirmed -- as he witnessed the two trying to steal vodka and energy drinks from the store.

Davis stopped Thrasher as he was trying to leave the store. Underwood came over from the checkout line to see what was going on.

"I said 'I'm holding him in the office for shoplifting and you're coming too.' She asked why and I said 'for that liquor in your jacket,'" Davis said.

Police were called to the store. Thrasher and Underwood explained to police they were from Alabama. They said their car had broken down at 89th Street and 22nd Avenue. Authorities in Cullman County, Alabama were contacted, the car was towed, and Thrasher and Underwood were arrested for retail theft. Police say they were attempting to steal about $16 worth of vodka and energy drinks, and when police searched Underwood, they found more than $16 in cash on her.

Thrasher and Underwood were taken to the police department, where they were interviewed. Police determined the missing person, David Hayes had been either severely injured or killed following a beating in Blount County, Alabama. According to a criminal complaint, Thrasher and Underwood told "multiple and contradictory stories" about how they got the car, and whether they knew David Hayes.

Eventually, Thrasher and Underwood told police they were there when 32-year-old Christopher Jones (of Blount County, Alabama) beat 53-year-old David Hayes to death. Thrasher admitted to helping move Hayes' body. Police found human blood in the vehicle the two were driving in Kenosha.

David Hayes' body was discovered in Blount County, Alabama on January 20th.

"Based on information from Wisconsin, we were given direction to where he may possibly be located in Blount County. We followed those directions and indeed found a body," Blount County Sheriff Loyd Arrington said.

Thrasher and Underwood -- arrested for retail theft in Kenosha have a warrant out of Alabama for first degree theft of property in the case involving David Hayes' death.

"This is an example of great police work by all officers involved -- from Officer Matthew Hagen realizing the vehicle he was dealing with on a parking complaint was involved with two suspects in a retail theft and in making the connection to a homicide in Alabama -- to the interviews conducted by the detectives in obtaining information that assisted in locating the suspect in Alabama and the body of the victim," Kenosha Police Chief John Morrissey said in a statement.

Word of Thrasher and Underwood's connection to the Alabama murder eventually made its way back to Chad Davis at that Piggly Wiggly store.

"It definitely made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, gave us a little fright, but at the end of the day, we got to assist law enforcement in getting criminals off the street," Chad Davis said.

Blount County Sheriff Loyd Arrington says Thrasher and Underwood knew people in Kenosha, and that's why they headed there.

Thrasher and Underwood were set to appear in court in Kenosha County on January 22nd in connection with the retail theft and obstructing an officer charges they each face in Wisconsin.

They will also be extradited to Alabama due to the warrant out of that state.

Police continue to work to determine a motive for David Hayes' murder.

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