Roommate arrested after elderly man found dead inside Franklin County home

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - A man was found dead on Saturday, and the sheriff’s office says his roommate has been arrested.

Sheriff Ricky Jones says that a deputy responding to the scene on County Road 4315 was investigating a call about a suspicious vehicle. Jones says that when he arrived, he found the vehicle in question. It had been burned.

The sheriff says that the investigation into the burned vehicle and its owner led to the discovery of a separate crime scene. That scene was in the Pelican Bay development of Lake Cypress Springs.

At that scene, Murrell Dempsey Newman, 69, the vehicle’s registered owner, was found deceased inside of his home. Based on the statements and evidence collected by the responding deputy, Franklin County Criminal Investigators and Texas DPS Rangers were called to the scene.

An investigation led to the arrest of Newman’s roommate, Jeffrey Dale Shelby, Jones said. Shelby was booked into the Franklin County Jail on $1 million bond. He is also held on a separate $250,000 bond for a probation violation warrant for aggravated family violence assault, the sheriff said.

If you have any information about this case, Jones asks that you call the sheriff’s office at (903) 537-4539.

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