-- A Northport woman unknowingly watched and heard her 79-year-old husband beaten to death after he went out to check on a problem with their air conditioner on Tuesday night, authorities say.

In custody today and charged with murder is a man who had a history of trespassing on the couple's property. Officials say it appears he lured the homeowner outside by disabling the air conditioner.

Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said Christopher Dewayne Patton, 29, is accused of killing Kenneth McDaniel at McDaniel's home.

Deputies were called to a residence on Highway 43 North between Charlie Shirley Road and Mitt Lary Road at 10:39 p.m. when a woman called 911 to report a disturbance involving a man beating on something or someone with a stick, said

A deputy arriving on the scene saw a man who appeared to be holding a pipe standing about 30 feet from the driveway of the house. The man dropped the pipe and fled when the deputy approached him.

McDaniel's wife told deputies that her husband went outside with a flashlight after they heard a loud pop and the air conditioning in their house went out. She said she saw a man hitting something with what appeared to be a stick. Another witness at the house said she saw him hitting something with a pipe.

Deputies found the body of Kenneth McDaniel, 79, lying beside the air conditioning unit on the west side of the house, Sexton said. It appeared that McDaniel had been struck several times in the head by a blunt instrument.

Patton was taken into custody at the intersection of Candlewood and Highway 43 North at 12:56 a.m. following search by the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office that included the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, a bloodhound search and the Sheriff's Office aviation unit.

Sexton said there does not appear to be any established relationship between Patton and McDaniel, but Patton has had previous contact with the residents of the house. Authorities have responded to three calls at the residence when it was reported Patton trespassed on the property in the past.

"There was no indication that copper had been taken," Sexton said. "What there was an indication of was that the breaker box at the back of the house -- four breakers had been flipped from on to off. That appears to have lured Mr. McDaniel out of his residence to the air conditioning unit where he was attacked by the alleged suspect."

Patton was arrested on the charge of murder after speaking to Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit investigators and was transported to the Tuscaloosa County Jail. His bond was set at $70,000.