A Tennessee fugitive wanted on rape charges killed himself Thursday when approached by police in Alabama, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said Friday.
The girl was able to escape and call police after the alleged attack, the station reported.
Whelan’s other alleged victims included legal clients. He was also charged with aggravated kidnapping and other sexual offenses.
“During the course of [TBI’s] investigation, agents developed information indicating that David Whelan forced or coerced female clients into sex as a way to re-pay their attorney fees,” TBI said in a June release, according to the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro.
Whelan skipped court, apparently changed his appearance and was one of the state’s most wanted fugitives when he was found in Mobile, Ala.
