Suspect Charged in Auburn Killing

NASA-enhanced photo helps police nab man in Alabama
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2008 2:18 PM CST
Suspect Charged in Auburn Killing
Phenix City Police escort Courtney Lockhart, 23, left, of Smiths Station, to a car to be transported to the Russell County Jail Friday night, March 7, 2008 in Phenix City, Ala. Lockhart has been charged with capital murder in the abduction and shooting death of 18-year-old Auburn University student...   (Associated Press)

A man has been arrested and charged with killing 18-year-old Auburn University student Lauren Burk, thanks to a photo enhanced with help from NASA, the AP reports. Police arrested Courtney Lockhart, 23, in Phenix City, Ala., after a car and foot chase. He was initially sought as a suspect in a string of robberies. Police did not say where they got the photo, but it may have come from a gas station camera, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Police haven’t found a link between Lockhart and Burk. “I don’t believe he targeted her that long,” said Auburn’s assistant police chief, adding, “We have the right individual in jail, I’m 100% sure of that.” The case continues to be a strange mirror of a similar student murder at UNC. Detectives in that case are searching for a man photographed using the victim’s ATM card. (More crime stories.)

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