Murder Suspect Calls Police to Ask if He’s a Murder Suspect

James Tummult’s Phone Call to Police:

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Montereyville, CA – Police are searching for 33-year-old James Tummult of Montereyville, a man they are referring to as the “prime suspect” in the murder of 35-year-old Ed Hipps, also from Montereyville. Mr. Hipps was found in his apartment, dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the neck. The Montereyville Police are asking for help from the public to find Mr. Tummult, who called the Montereyville police today wondering about whether or not he was a suspect in Mr. Hipps’ murder. He would not come to the Downtown Montereyville Station for questioning, and is currently a fugitive from justice, according to Lt. Paul Carlisle of the Montereyville Police Department’s Homicide Division.

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James Tummult, seen leaving the apartment building at 222 East Cedar Street where Ed Hipps lived. Mr. Hipps was found shot to death in his apartment. Police are searching for Mr. Tummult, who they consider to be the prime suspect.

“I told him the best thing to do would be to come in and talk to us,” Lt. Carlisle said. “But he didn’t want to do that. He doesn’t realize he’s making it much worse for himself by evading the police.”

Lt. Carlisle said Mr. Tummult was not considered a suspect until he called the precinct. “That was very bizarre behavior, and sent up many red flags,” Carlisle said. He said Mr. Tummult told him he was in Mr. Hipps’ apartment at the time of the shooting, but he was not the shooter, nor was he involved in the shooting in any way.

“We don’t believe that,” Carlisle siad. “We feel that he was definitely involved in some way, some way beyond just being in the apartment.”

Lt. Carlisle said Mr. Tummult admitted yelling, “Time to die!” which several witnesses reported hearing just prior to hearing what they described as a popping sound, which police believe was the fatal gunshot. But Mr. Tummult told Lt. Carlisle that the phrase is a line of dialogue in a screenplay he is writing, and that he was repeating the lines out loud because Mr. Hipps liked the lines so much.

“He said he was sort of acting them out for Mr. Hipps, the lines, which we don’t buy,” Lt. Carlisle said. He said police have confirmed that Mr. Hipps and Mr. Tummult were enrolled in the same weekly screenwriting class, which meets Monday nights. However, Lt. Carlisle said, no scripts of any kind were recovered from the apartment.

Mr. Tummult’s phone call was leaked to the media this afternoon, and first appeared on the website TMZ.com. Asked about the leak, Lt. Carlisle said he had no knowledge of who might be responsible.

“I don’t know who did it,” Carlisle said. “It wasn’t me. I was out all day. At–at lunch. It was an extra long lunch. Because we had a lot to discuss. And because the portions were very big. So I couldn’t have done it.”

Police are asking anyone with information about Mr. Tummult to call the Montereyville Police Department.

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