By Emma James For Dailymail.Com and Shawn Cohen In Memphis, Tennessee For Dailymail.Com and Paul Farrell For Dailymail.Com
Published: 22:52 EDT, 6 September 2022 | Updated: 11:31 EDT, 7 September 2022
Court documents reveal that violent felon Cleotha Abston was previously convicted of raping a man when he was a teenager – as new footage show the alleged killer cleaning his SUV hours after billionaire heiress Eliza Fletcher vanished.
Abston, 38, was just 11 when he first appeared in Shelby County Juvenile Court, in Memphis, Tennessee, charged with theft of property $500 or less.
He was detained 16 times from October 1995 to May 2000 for rape, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.
According to Action News 5 his first charges were filed against him in June 1995, and that he was part of the ‘LMG’ gang – which stands for ‘Lemoyne Gardens Gangstas’.
Cleotha Abston, pictured in 2000, was first arrested when he was just 11 years old and was in and out of juvenille court when 16 times in five years before he kidnapped a lawyer
Records show that Abston was accused of raping a man and was placed in the custody of Shelby County’s Youth Services Bureau.
Two weeks after he was released from his final spell at the SCYSB to his mother’s care, he was transferred to adult court for kidnapping lawyer Kemper Durand.
Abston was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the offence, and was released in 2020 before violently bundling Eliza Fletcher, 34, into an SUV on Friday.
New footage shows the suspected killer driving to the home of his brother, Mario, at the Longview Gardens apartment complex around 8am on Friday morning.
Less than four hours earlier Abston is accused of kidnapping the heiress seven miles away, close to the University of Memphis.
In the video, he can be seen sitting in his car after arriving at the complex before getting up and going to the trunk of the car. It's unclear what he was getting from the trunk.
Authorities in Memphis confirmed that the body found in long grass near an abandoned property, close to where Abston was seen cleaning his car.
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Eliza Fletcher, 34, (pictured) was kidnapped after being forced into a black SUV on Friday. Cleotha Abston, 38, has been charged with her kidnap and is set to be charged with her murder after a her body was found in long grass against an abandoned house
According to the criminal affidavit in the case, Mario Abston's neighbors witnessed the suspect cleaning out his car and reported that he had been acting strange. New surveillance footage shows Abston cleaning out the GMC Terrain after kidnapping the mother-of-two
King Charles III prepares for his first address to the nation
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A map illustrating the scale of the citywide search for Eliza Fletcher in Memphis
Cops discovered the missing mother-of-two in long grass close to where her Lululemon running shorts were found in a trash bag
After rummaging around in the vehicle's trunk, Abston runs into his brother's home before returnign to the car and spends more than an hour on the passenger side of the GMC Terrain.
His brother Mario, 36, described his brother as acting 'strangely', and has also been arrested on several felonies that are unrelated to Fletcher's case
Officers found a semi-automatic handgun, a scale with a bag of heroin and fentanyl, and he was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and possession of controlled substances.
Abston told police that his brother had been cleaning the interior of his GMC Terrain with floor cleaner, as well as washing his clothes in the sink of the house.
Cleo Henderson, Abston’s father, is currently in prison for second-degree murder and is scheduled for release in 2044.
Another neighbor confirmed that Abston was acting 'very strange', and police determined that his phone pinged near to where Fletcher was taken.
Officers removed a dumpster close to Abston's brothers low-income apartment complex over the weekend.
Cops discovered the missing mother-of-two in long grass close to where her Lululemon running shorts were found in a trash bag.
Authorities have not yet confirmed Fletcher’s cause of death, and Abston is set to appear in court today to be arraigned on further charges.
The Ultra-runner vanished while out for a jog around 4.30am on Friday, sparking a four-day long hunt, which led officers to several wooded areas across Memphis.
But she was discovered by the steps of a dilapidated one-story property just yards from where police last spotted the vehicle she was forced into.
A bloodstain remained at the bottom of the stairs next to the patch of dirt where her body was found, with flies still swarming the area and locals reporting a 'stench of decay'.
Abston, who is accused of taking the keen jogger, drove with her in his GMC terrain for an hour and a half before the vehicle was spotted turning into the road where her body was discovered. Officers searched underneath the porch of the house where she was found
Missing mother Eliza Fletcher pictured with her husband Richie and their two children. The family described her as a 'special' woman who was taken away from them in a 'senseless' manner
Cops discovered the missing mother-of-two in long grass close to where her Lululemon running shorts were found in a trash bag. She was discovered lying unresponsive in long grass next to an abandoned property
Fletcher's kidnapping comes 22 years after Memphis Attorney Kemper Durand (above) was kidnapped and thrown into the trunk of his own car by Abston and an accomplice
Abston, who is accused of taking the keen jogger, drove with her in his GMC terrain for an hour and a half before the vehicle was spotted turning into the road where her body was discovered.
The area where the body was found is just a hundred yards from the Longview Gardens apartment complex - where Abston's brother, Mario, lives.
Abston was previously charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence in relation to her disappearance, as well as other unrelated charges.
He appeared in court yesterday wearing a mask and green issued prison uniform, swaying back and forth, looking towards the family of the victim before telling the court in an affidavit that he is unable to afford a lawyer or make bond.
Abston did not speak during the short 15 minute hearing, and was led away by officers with his hands cuffed behind his back.
A van believed to belong to the medical examiners unit left the scene six hours after the remains were found, and is thought to have been transporting the body.
Devestated neigbours left tributes to the mother-of-two, including a pink stuffed animal and heart shaped balloons on the front step.
Memphis Police Officers were seen searching the area where Eliza was found. She remained hidden by long grass and foliage for four days before discovery with blood seeping into the soil
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In the criminal complaint against Cleotha Abston, witnesses were quoted as saying they saw the suspect at his brother's home behaving strangely and washing the carpet of this 2013 GMC Terrain
After the discovery of the car, Fletcher's family, her father, Beasley, mother, Adele, brother Gill and her husband appeared on camera alongside their lawyer, Mike Keeney
September 2, 4.30am: Fletcher, 34, goes for a jog near the University of Memphis campus and is bundled into a dark SUV
7.45am: Officers are dispatched after husband Richard reports her disappearance. They find her water bottle and smashed cell phone in front of a home near the scene
September 3: Cops tow her family car from her home. Investigators were also seen labeling a pair of garden shears and a computer as evidence. They scour a local park and release CCTV of GMC Terrain
Cleo Abston, 38, is arrested with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence. He was identified as the owner of the black SUV. He was apprehended after he was involved in a car wreck with an Alcohol Tobacco Firearms vehicle on Saturday night. It is later revealed he was recently released from a 20-year sentence for a similar crime
September 4: Abston is charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence
September 5: Cops search pond and park. New charges are filed against Abston of identity theft, theft of property, and fraudulent use/illegal possession of credit/debit card of $1000 or less
A body that is later identified as Fletcher's was found near Abston's brother's home.
Abston was only 16-years-old when he and an accomplice kidnapped Durand, threw him into his own trunk, and tried to force him to withdraw money at a gas station ATM in 2000.
In his victim impact statement, Durand, who died in 2013, said he feared for his life during his kidnapping, where he was rescued by a nearby Memphis Housing Authority guard who heard his scream for help, the Commercial Appeal reported.
'It is quite likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped,' Durand wrote.
He was sentenced to 24 years in prison but was released early in 2020 according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
Coffindaffer condemned the decision to release Abston two-years early, saying that keeping him in prison would have prevented the alleged crime.
'Any time someone is let out early and the goes on to commit another violent crime, yes, I think society’s let down,' she said. 'I think we are all let down by his early release.'
In the criminal complaint against Cleotha, witnesses were quoted as saying they saw the suspect at his brother's home behaving strangely and washing the carpet of this 2013 GMC Terrain.
The violent felon, accused of snatching billionaire heiress Eliza, had stalked the area she went missing from while jogging for almost 30 minutes before her abduction.
On Sunday, a neighbor of Mario Abston's told DailyMail.com exclusively that she had seen the suspect at his brother's house nearly every day for the last month.
Authorities arrested Cleotha Abston, 38, before charging him with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence following Fletcher's disappearance on September 2.
Officers have footage of the vehicle used in the kidnapping in the same area 24 minutes before the mother-of-two was taken at 4:20am in Memphis, Tennessee.
Surveillance footage obtained by police, which has not been released, show a man running 'aggressively' towards Fletcher and forcing her into the passenger side of the vehicle.
The pair struggled, and the car then sat in the parking lot for four minutes with Fletcher inside before driving off to an unknown location.
Police tracked him down after finding his DNA on Champion sliders that were left behind during the struggle with Fletcher, as well as her cell phone and water bottle.
His bail has been set at $500,000, and it is understood that he is refusing to cooperate with police.
Police also discovered Fletchers Lululemon purple running shorts in a trash bag less than half a mile from where her body was discovered on Victor Street
Abston did not speak during the short 15 minute hearing, and was led away by officers with his hands cuffed behind his back. He confirmed in an affadavit that he was unable to afford bond or legal representation
Fletcher was last seen about 4.20am on Friday, when she was jogging (right) in Memphis and a man approached her and forced her into an SUV after a brief struggle, police said
Authorities went to Abston's last known address and found the same black SUV with the damaged taillight. The affidavit said Abston was standing in the doorway when police arrived and that he began to flee, but was soon apprehended.
After the discovery of the car, Fletcher's family, her father, Beasley, mother, Adele, brother Gill and her husband appeared on camera alongside their lawyer, Mike Keeney.
They offered a $50,000 reward for any information that results in Fletcher being brought home safely.
In a new statement released after her death, the family said: 'We are heartbroken and devastated by this senseless loss.
‘Liza was a such a joy to so many – her family, friends, colleagues, students, parents, members of her Second Presbyterian Church congregation, and everyone who knew her.
'Now it’s time to remember and celebrate how special she was and to support those who cared so much for her. We appreciate all the expressions of love and concern we have received.
'We are grateful beyond measure to local, state and federal law enforcement for their tireless efforts to find Liza and to bring justice to the person responsible for this horrible crime.
'We hope that everyone, including media representatives, understand the need for the family to grieve in privacy without outside intrusion during this painful time.'
The abducted woman is the granddaughter of hardware magnate Joseph 'Joe' Orgill III who died in 2018.
Fletcher's mother, Adele, is Orgill's daughter. Their hardware wholesale family business, Orgill Inc., does $3 billion in annual sales, according to the company's website.
The description of the company on the website calls Orgill 'the world's largest independent hardline distributor with annual sales of $3 billion.' The company is privately owned.
Don't know why we need to see that. I'm sure no on...
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