COLUMBUS, OHIO: A fugitive pair, who reportedly killed a man and burned his body in a fire pit earlier this summer, was arrested and taken into custody on Thursday, September 7.
During the early morning hours of July 8, the police were informed about a “suspicious fire” in the woods near South High Street in the Hungarian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio.
The Franklin County Municipal Court issued arrest warrants for Miranda King, 24, and Robert Beine, 42, on August 20 on charges of murder and gross abuse of a corpse over the murder of William Hamblin, 43, and the alleged subsequent efforts to cover up his violent death.
The brutal slaying of William Hamblin
The two accused allegedly struck Hamblin in the head with some kind of a blunt object and then fatally shot him, according to court records cited by Columbus-based Fox affiliate WSYX.
“Through the course of the investigation, detectives determined there was an ongoing dispute between Mr. Hamblin, Robert Beine and Miranda King, Mr. Beine’s girlfriend, in regards to some property which was stolen from Mr. Hamblin,” detectives wrote in a complaint.
“On July 6, 2023, witnesses observed an altercation between the three listed individuals, resulting in Mr. Beine making threats to kill Mr. Hamblin and Ms. King encouraging Mr. Beine to do so.”
Miranda King and Robert Beine were seen walking with a third person near the area of crime
The dispute between the defendants and their alleged victim apparently passed but two days later, they were seen on surveillance footage walking with a third person near the area where the victim's burning body was eventually discovered, the CPD alleged. The flames could be seen in the clip shortly after that, police said. The call about the fire came around 1.30 am.
Hamblin was pronounced dead on the scene after firefighters put out the blaze. According to a copy of King’s criminal complaint obtained by local ABC affiliate WPDE, Hamblin’s body was burned in a fire pit in an all-fated attempt “to dispose of the evidence of his murder”.
Fugitives Miranda King and Robert Beine were wanted for three weeks
King and Beine were spotted “in south Columbus” early Thursday morning when a pursuit ensued, local police said. The US Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team noted in their own press release that the suspects were located at a filling station near the corner of Lockbourne Road and Frebis Avenue. The pair allegedly fled but were finally arrested by “assisting CPD patrol units.”
Where are defendants Miranda King and Robert Beine now?
Both of them were taken to the Franklin County Jail after their arrest “where they will remain pending their initial appearances in court.”
King was being detained there as of Friday afternoon. She had her first court appearance Friday morning where a judge assessed her bail in the amount of $2.5 million. She is next slated to appear in court on September 15.
Beine, however, does not appear in the current inmate roster for the same jail. His first court appearance is scheduled for September 9.