Sunday 11 September 2022 11:58 PM Man who 'murdered' heiress Eliza Fletcher was charged with raping and ... trends now
The man accused of kidnapping and murdering billionaire heiress Eliza Fetcher was charged with an unrelated kidnapping and rape that took place a year earlier thanks to DNA evidence compiled from his most recent arrest.
Cleotha Abston, 38, was handed down a second indictment during a Thursday hearing that saw a judge deny him bail for his prospective part in Fletcher's death. The new charges appeared in the Shelby County criminal justice portal the next day.
Abston was arrested on Tuesday - less than a day after detectives found Fletcher's body - but was rebooked on Friday on new charges of aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Memphis Police said that the charges stem from a rape kit sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation two days after Abston's arrest for allegedly murdering Fletcher.
The charges date back to Sept. 21, 2021 and the alleged victim in this case has yet to be identified, according to Commercial Appeal. Police say the unrelated abduction occurred in 2021 and saw the suspect rape a woman.
A 38-year-old career criminal who served 20 years in prison for kidnapping, Cleotha Abston had been charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnaping of Fletcher, the 34-year-old heiress to the $3billion Orgill Hardware company
Memphis mom of two Eliza Fletcher, 34, (pictured with her husband and two young sons) was kidnapped after being forced into a black SUV on Friday. Cleotha Abston, 38, has been charged with her kidnap and murder after her body was found in long grass against an abandoned house
Abston is a career criminal who served 20 years in prison for yet another kidnapping, in that case a man.
Memphis police confirmed the new charges Saturday, without providing any additional information on the 2021 case in question - other than confirmation that the new counts aren’t tied to the Fletcher case.
He had been charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnaping of Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher who had been on her routine morning jog Friday September 5 in Memphis, Tennessee, when she was caught on camera being forced into a black SUV.
Abston appeared in court in Memphis on Thursday, where he was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence - with the judge again refusing him bail ahead of another hearing on September 19.
Jennifer Case, his public defender, initially argued that there was a conflict of interest in her representing him as her office had worked with him in a previous criminal matter in the early 2000s.
However the matter was dismissed by the
