A man has been taken into custody after the Coryell County Sheriff's Office said he told an informant that he murdered a man because he believed he was a child molester.
Chief Deputy Mark Wilcox said that Bobby Whitehead, 36, told an informant that he was involved in the murder of Michael Paradise on Nov. 17. The sheriff's office and Texas Rangers were dispatched to a home on the 200 block of Julia Drive in Copperas Cove in regards to a possible murder. Paradise was found in the home and his body was sent to Dallas for an autopsy.
Wilcox told Central Texas News Now that Paradise had no previous convictions or allegations of child molestation or abuse.
“As friends and family of the deceased Mr. Paradise, we would like to stress that he was a devoted family man, husband, father, friend, and has never been suspected nor accused of any such crime,” family friend Lyndse Fischer said.
The sheriff's office received information on Nov. 26 from an informant who said that Whitehead had told him that he had murdered Paradise. The informant said that Whitehead believed that Paradise was a child molester and that Whitehead "didn't get a good vibe" from him. Whitehead told the informant that he saw Paradise near his children when he drove up to his ex-wife's house.
The informant said that Whitehead told them he knocked on Paradise's door and "put a bullet in his head" when Paradise answered the door.
An arrest warrant was issued for Whitehead on Nov. 28.
Whitehead was located and arrested by Travis County Sheriff Deputies and the Texas Rangers. He was arrested on Nov. 29 without incident and is being held at the Coryell County Jail with no bond set at this time. He is being charged with murder.
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