A Massachusetts man faces federal charges as part of a machete attack on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia



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A Massachusetts man faces a murder charge before federal authorities after being accused by the authorities of attacking two hikers with a machete on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, causing a death and seriously injuring him. ;other.

James L. Jordan, 30, of West Yarmouth, Mass., Was arrested Saturday morning as a result of the deadly attack in Wythe County, Virginia, which a federal prosecutor on Sunday called of "foolish and brutal".

Jordan was stopped on the trail after two hikers contacted the Bland County Sheriff's Office and reported "a man with a machete assaulting people," according to the Wythe County Sheriff's Office.

PHOTO: James L. Jordan on a photo taken by the police.
Southwest Regional Jail
James L. Jordan in a police booking photo.

The Richmond, Virginia, division of the FBI, is investigating the motive for this attack.

The Wythe County Sheriff's Office said the MPs quickly went to the Appalachian Trail and found two seriously injured hikers, a man and a woman. The names of the victim were not revealed immediately and it was difficult to know which one had died.

Jordan has been charged with a murder charge in the United States Special Maritime Territorial Jurisdiction and an assault with intent to murder in the United States Special Maritime Territorial Jurisdiction, announced the authorities.

The suspect is scheduled to appear in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia on Monday, authorities said. It is unclear whether Jordan retained the services of a lawyer.

PHOTO: Blue Mountain Layers on the Appalachian Trail.
PHOTO STOCK / Getty Images
Layers of blue mountains on the Appalachian Trail.

"I congratulate the local law enforcement agencies of Wythe and Smyth counties for organizing successful tactical and rescue operations in this remote area and, thanks to their efforts, the suspect has been apprehended safely and securely. the critically injured victim received critical medical care, "Thomas T. Cullen, United States. Western District of Virginia lawyer, said in a statement.

"We will continue to work with our state and local partners to bring to justice the perpetrator of this brutal and senseless attack," Cullen said.

This was the first murder on the Appalachian Trail, a 2,160 km wilderness trail that stretches from Maine to Georgia, since 2011, the year of hiker Scott Lilly, 30, of South Bend, Indiana, in Amherst County. , Virginia. No one was arrested in the homicide.

The most infamous murder on the Appalachian Trail occurred in May 1981 near Pearisburg, Virginia, when the bodies of two hikers, Robert Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay, both of Maine, were found in their sleeping bag. Mountford received three bullets in the face, while Ramsay was stabbed several times with a long nail, officials said.

Randal Lee Smith was arrested in the double homicide. He pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree murder.

The killings became the subject of the 1984 book "The Murder on the Appalachian Trail" by author Jess Carr.

Smith was released on parole in 1996 after serving a 30-year sentence for 15 years.

Smith returned to the Appalachian Trail in May 2008 and was arrested for firing and wounding two fishermen near the place where he killed Mountford and Ramsey, authorities said. He later died in prison.

ABC Stein & Ben Stein contributed to this report.

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