A Butler County man is in police custody following a fatal shooting/stabbing incident in Bollinger County

A Poplar Bluff man allegedly shot and stabbed a couple in Marble Hill killing the man and leaving the woman in critical condition. 32-year old William Anthony Pickard is suspected in the attack just before 10 o’clock Friday night. Bollinger County Sheriff Darin Shell says police responded to a residence off Highway 51 north of Marble Hill. A neighbor told police he went outside after hearing gunshots and found a man lying on the ground with a knife protruding from his torso. A woman with gunshot wounds lay near him. Police later determined they had been stabbed and shot several times. The victims are 31-year old Joshua Sharar and 31-year old Vickie Williams both of Marble Hill. EMS personnel took them to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where Sharar died. Williams was reported to be in critical condition. The neighbor said the suspect fled in a Chevrolet truck, later spotted going south on Highway 51 in Puxico. Police pursued the suspect and ultimately used spike strips to stop him on Route AA. He fled on foot but was arrested after a short foot pursuit in a roadside drainage ditch. Members of the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad were activated to help investigate the crime scene. Pickard has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, armed criminal action and tampering with a motor vehicle. He is being held in the Butler County Jail on $750,000 cash-only bail. His arraignment will be 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Marble Hill courthouse.