South Jersey Trucker Charged With Murder After Body Found In Cab

SICKLERVILLE, NJ — Authorities in Maryland charged a Sicklerville truck driver with two counts of murder, after finding a woman's body in the cab of his truck during an investigation at Costco distribution center.

Deputies in Frederick County determined the 46-year-old driver was under the influence, and tried to stop him from leaving the parking lot, ultimately breaking a window and deploying a Taser on the man, according to officials.

Someone called to report a tractor-trailer driver who "seemed under the influence and had broken out the window of their own tractor" at 1:31 a.m. Sunday, said the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. Deputies tried to talk to the man, identified as Matthew Sidney Watley, but he "was argumentative" and did not want to talk to them, as the FCSO reported.

Deputies placed spike strips behind and in front of Watley's truck, as they considered him to be under the influence and a danger to the public. Officials said he tried to get away, and hit the stop sticks while driving slowly around the Costco Distribution lot on Intercoastal Drive in Monrovia, Md.

"He came to a stop at the exit lane of Costco where he still refused to get out," officials said. "Deputies attempted verbal communication and de-escalation, with no resolution."

As Watley "continued to be confrontational," deputies used OC spray (pepper spray) and ended up breaking a window so a deputy could enter a cab, deploy a Taser, and "successfully detain him."

While deputies were in the cab, they observed a dead female victim on the floorboard of the vehicle, said officials.

Watley is at Frederick Health Hospital under security as he undergoes medical treatment, said officials. The victim, an adult woman, has not been identified as of early Monday afternoon.

Deputies charged Watley with first- and second-degree murder, according to the sheriff's office.