Court hearing Thursday for man charged in rampage

Associated Press - November 19, 2009 4:15 AM ET

FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A preliminary hearing for a Lincoln County man accused of fatally stabbing and beating six people in Tennessee and Alabama is set for Thursday in Fayetteville.

Jacob Shaffer is charged in six murders.

The 28-year-old was on the front porch of his wife's duplex when deputies arrived June 18 and found five victims in two neighboring homes in Fayetteville. Police say Shaffer also fatally beat a man in Huntsville, Ala.

The hearing will be Shaffer's first in-person court appearance.

Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Dorinda Carter said Shaffer has been in custody at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, where he is being kept segregated from other inmates.