NJ Fugitives Arrested In Double Murder In Alabama: Police

Two South Jersey men who had been wanted in connection with a double murder in Alabama have been arrested, New Jersey State Police announced on Monday.

Michael Council, 25 of Maple Shade, and Lazaro Moran, 33 of Lindenwold, were arrested in connection with a double murder that took place in Fayette County, Alabama in May 2018, police said. They had been wanted since July 16, 2019, when they were charged with capital murder by the Fayette County District Attorney's Office. Alabama State Police then contacted New Jersey State Police for help to find them, police said.

They were wanted in the murders of Antonio Padilla, 55, and Allen Clifford Sandlin, 56, whose bodies were found inside a Carbon Hill home after neighbors reported hearing gunshots coming from the home, according to ABC 33/40.

Police discovered that Council was staying at a home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, and Moran was staying at a home in Pennsauken.

Council was arrested without incident at the Blackwood home on July 23 by state police and the U.S. Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force-Camden Division, police said.Moran was arrested without incident at the Pennsauken home on Oct. 4.

They were charged with being fugitives of justice and lodged in Camden County Jail pending extradition back to Alabama.

New Jersey State Police had no further information. Authorities in Alabama weren’t immediately available for comment on Monday.