A Tennessee fugitive wanted on rape charges killed himself Thursday when approached by police in Alabama, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said Friday.
David Whelan, 49, an attorney from Murfreesboro, Tenn., was wanted on multiple rape charges including aggravated and statutory rape of a teenage girl who had been babysitting his daughter, FOX 17 of Nashville reported.
The girl was able to escape and call police after the alleged attack, the station reported.
Whelan’s other alleged victims included legal clients. He was also charged with aggravated kidnapping and other sexual offenses.
“During the course of [TBI’s] investigation, agents developed information indicating that David Whelan forced or coerced female clients into sex as a way to re-pay their attorney fees,” TBI said in a June release, according to the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro.
Whelan skipped court, apparently changed his appearance and was one of the state’s most wanted fugitives when he was found in Mobile, Ala.
“When confronted by officers, Whelan reportedly produced a weapon and shot himself, resulting in his death,” TBI wrote on Twitter Friday morning. ‘That set of events remains under investigation by authorities in AL.'”
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TBI had asked the public for help on Twitter in locating Whelan on Sept. 4.