PEABODY (CBS) — A grandfather out for dinner in Middleton says he survived a frightening three-hour encounter with an accused killer who confessed to him and is still on the loose.

Ken Metz, 64, told reporters he was carjacked Wednesday night by Peabody double murder suspect Wes Doughty.

Metz said Doughty forced himself into Metz’s Honda Accord outside Hailey’s Restaurant in Middleton around 7 p.m. and tied him up with a seat belt in the passenger seat.

He struggled briefly with Doughty and suffered cuts from Doughty’s pen knife.

“I was going to let him have the car. He insisted that I stay in the car. When I realized he had a pen knife I just decided to cooperate. I prayed. God gave me great peace,” Metz said.

The two rode around in Metz’s car for about three hours, with Doughty allegedly driving drunk. They stopped once at a liquor store in Peabody and later on in Boston around 10 p.m.

Metz said he got away when Doughty pulled over to go into Hollywood Liquors on Tremont Street.

“I waited for my opportunity to escape. He left the seat belt he tied me up with a little loose about the third or fourth time he tied me up and I escaped while he went a block-and-a-half away to a liquor store,” Metz said.

Watch: Extended Interview With Metz

Before he escaped, Doughty allegedly told Metz that he was going to hijack another car and let him go as soon as he got more liquor.

“I figured he’d probably leave me tied up in my car or something,” Metz said. “I don’t know, so I just figured I’d sacrifice my car and escape while I can.”

He ran to a nearby restaurant, Good Eats in Roxbury, where he asked workers to call police.

WBZ-TV’s Jim Smith reports



Metz talked to both Boston and Middleton police about his ordeal. He said once it became clear that he would cooperate with his kidnapper, Doughty told Metz he would spare his life.

“I told him my wife’s situation (ALS) and that I have four kids and eight grand-kids and he said, ‘I can’t kill you.’,” Metz said.

Doughty is still on the run. State Police say he may be driving a gray 2006 Honda Accord four-door sedan with Massachusetts license plate 7KLY80.

Investigators were at the liquor store in Boston Thursday gathering evidence including video images of Doughty as he made a purchase.

“The gentleman they were looking for just walked into the liquor store, grabbed a beer, purchased a beer and half a pint of E & J,” said Ramon Genao, owner of Hollywood Liquors. “Came in normal like any other customer, paid, grabbed his bag and then walked back out.”

Investigators say Doughty and Michael Hebb shot and killed Mark Greenlaw, 37, and Jennifer O’Connor, 40, last weekend in Peabody.

Hebb was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the case. He is being held without bail.

Metz claimed Doughty told him “early on” during their three-hour ordeal why he committed murder.

“He said he killed them because they gave heroin to his godfather. He visited his godfather and his godfather was really loopy and didn’t want his godfather to be addicted to heroin,” Metz said.

“It came up about where he might go, but by then I knew this guy didn’t even know his way around Boston, so I don’t think he’s going to get very far.”

State Police say Doughty is armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees him should call 911 immediately or the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section at 1-800-KAPTURE (1-800-527-8873).

WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Ben Parker reports