Traveling carnival worker, 23, charged with killing two women and teen

A traveling carnival worker has been arrested on murder charges after officials say he confessed to killing two Tennessee women and a Georgia teenager who had been reported missing earlier this year.

James Michael Wright, 23, of Mendota, Virginia, was arrested on Thursday on three counts of capital murder after submitting to a police interview and reportedly admitting to shooting to death three young women over the course of 18 days.

Wright, who was employed as a sub-contract worker with the James H. Drew Carnival, told investigators with the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Virginia that on or about February 28, he gunned down Elizabeth Vanmeter, 22, of Carter County, Tennessee, during an argument. Vanmeter was officially reported missing on March 17.

James Wright, 23, a traveling carnival worker from Virginia, has been charged with killing two women and a teen girl over the course of 18 days

Cops labeled Wright a serial killer

'Serial killer': James Wright, 23, a traveling carnival worker from Virginia (left and right), has been charged with killing two women and a teen girl over the course of 18 days  

Wright was employed as a sub-contract worker with the James H. Drew Carnival and met all three victims through work

Wright was employed as a sub-contract worker with the James H. Drew Carnival and met all three victims through work 

On March 9, Wright told the cops he shot dead Jocelyn Alsup, 17, from Marietta, Georgia, after the two had sex in the woods.

Wright claimed that he tried to shoot an animal but inadvertently fired on Alsup. The girl, who was the daughter of Wright’s co-worker, had been reported missing a day earlier.

Then on March 17, the carnival worker stated that he shot 25-year-old Athina Hopson, of Johnson City, Tennessee, in the head after tripping and falling while armed with a gun.

During the interview, Wright reportedly recounted how he was transporting Hopson's body in the back of his truck when it fell out and rolled down an embankment near the bridge on Nordyke Road in Virginia.

He then retrieved the victim's body and dumped it in the river, according to a statement from the sheriff's office. Hopson was reported missing by her mother on March 21.

Victim 1: Wright reportedly admitted to shooting and killing Elizabeth Vanmeter, 22, of Tennessee, during an argument on February 28

Victim 1: Wright reportedly admitted to shooting and killing Elizabeth Vanmeter, 22, of Tennessee, during an argument on February 28

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