Murder suspect Chadwick Shane Mobley arrested after escaping custody

A Michigan cold case murder suspect who escaped from custody on Sunday was rearrested in Montana on Monday evening after over 30 hours on the run.

Chadwick Shane Mobley, 42, was taken into custody around 6:10 p.m. in Plains, the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook.

Mobley’s taste of freedom came after he slipped out of his handcuffs and ankle shackles at a Plains gas station as he was being transported to his arraignment by a private company under contract with the US Marshals Service.

Authorities had not revealed how Mobley was able to escape from the restraints

Residents in the small mountain town were asked to remain on high alert and spotted the suspected killer on a riverside road before calling police, according to officials.

Mobley was first arrested in Libby, Mont. on June 28 after DNA evidence linked him to the 2011 shooting death of Andrea Eilber, 20, in Mayfield Township, Mich.

He had been living in Utah but fled to Big Sky Country after investigators questioned him about a discarded cigarette butt with his genetic material at the crime scene, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

It is unclear how he may have been connected to the victim, who was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head at a relative’s home on Nov. 14, 2011, The Clarkston News reported.

News of Mobley’s arrest is a special relief for Eilber’s boyfriend, Kenneth Carl “KC” Grondin, now 31, who was convicted of first-degree murder in his girlfriend’s death and sentenced to live in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015, the outlet noted.

Grondin’s conviction was overturned in 2018, and he has been on house arrest while awaiting a new trial set to take place next year.

While it is unclear if there is any connection between Mobley and Grondin, the latter’s supporters say the Montana arrest is further proof of his innocence.

“I’m glad [Mobley] was arrested. I hope they bring him back, and I hope he talks to identify the other people we think were involved,” Carl Grondin Sr., KC’s grandfather, told the newspaper.

In addition to the DNA evidence, authorities are believed to have found a firearm in Mobley’s possession that matches the bullet found in Eilber’s skull, the outlet said, citing court documents. 

Grondin’s attorney, Brian Legghio, previously slammed the Michigan State Police for not reanalyzing the DNA earlier.

“In 2012 the Michigan State Police identified DNA on this cigarette butt, determined it came from a male and they conclusively excluded KC Grondin as the contributor. The State Police, however, never submitted it for further testing until KC Grondin’s defense team began demanding genealogy testing in 2019,” he alleged.

“Had MSP submitted it sooner, Andrea’s murderer would have been identified and apprehended much sooner.

“…KC Grondin has always been innocent. The MSP’s failure to test the evidence they possessed since 2011 robbed KC Grondin, a then young University of Michigan student, of a bright future and of all that he could have lived and could have been.”

The Sanders County Sheriff’s Office thanked all of the authorities and locals who helped apprehend Mobley in their own statement.

“Great work by all, together we made a difference! Not just for our community, but for the victims of the crimes he is suspected of, and being charged with,” the post read.