'I wish we never bonded him out,' agent says of Springfield homicide suspect

The suspect in two recent Springfield killings was released from jail days before the first homicide.

The men who bonded him out said Wednesday they had no idea this was coming when they decided to do business with 24-year-old Willie Haughton.

Bond agent Billy Dragoo said he had a brief interaction with Haughton. Dragoo looked into Haughton's co-signers, home plan and background and found nothing to indicate two homicides would follow his release.

"We had no clue," Dragoo said.

Haughton was released on bond in a domestic assault case on March 23.

Four days later, police say they found Lance Loveless shot to death in a car on West Florida Street.

Five days after that, police say Robert Hewitt was found shot to death in a car less than two miles away on Commercial Street.

Police say Haughton, who had recently met the victims, is a suspect in both of the killings.

A manhunt is now underway, with multiple law enforcement agencies trying to track down Haughton.

Dragoo said he is staying out of the search at this point so he does not interfere with police.

Before Haughton became a homicide suspect, however, he was already on Dragoo's bad list.

Court documents say Haughton was required to go straight from the jail to a home on Florida Street, but he instead visited more than a dozen other locations in a 24-hour span.

That violation caused Dragoo to start looking into Haugton's whereabouts.

But the urgency for a bail bondsman to find someone, Dragoo said, doesn't really ratchet up until a client misses a court date.

A bail bond agent will, for a fee, cover the cost of a person’s bond, allowing that person to be released from jail. The agent risks losing money if a client fails to show up for court.

Authorities used the ankle bracelet to track Haughton's movements in the days after he was released, but court documents say the battery died on the ankle bracelet on March 27, just before the first homicide.

Dragoo said there's no way to track someone from the ankle bracelet after the battery dies.

"We have no clue on where he was at," Dragoo said. "The way he was jumping around from place to place, it's hard to say where he went."

Bruce Temen owns the bail bonds company where Dragoo works. Temen said his company has turned over the information it has to law enforcement.

Temen said he wishes his company never took on Haughton as a client.

"I wish we never bonded him out, obviously," Temen said.

Springfield police spokeswoman Lisa Cox said Wednesday multiple agencies were involved in the search for Haughton.

A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said he could not confirm or deny whether his agency was involved.

Haughton is described as a black man who is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 168 pounds.

Anyone with information about either homicide is asked to call the Springfield Police Department at 417-864-1810 or make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 417-869-8477.

Police say Haughton is known to be armed and dangerous.

Court records indicate Haughton's bond has been revoked in the domestic assault case and he has not been charged in connection with the homicides.

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