Winfield police chief says case of man killing wife, then fleeing to North Carolina is unlike any he’s seen

WINFIELD, Ala. (WBRC) – Winfield Police Chief Brett Burleson said in his years in law enforcement, he can’t recall a situation quite like this one.

It started around 5:30 a.m. Saturday when Winfield police received a call from North Carolina authorities.

“North Carolina investigators spoke with our officers and stated that a subject had called in and admitted to killing his wife,” Burleson said.

The subject was identified as 22-year-old Mason Thomas Parnell, according to the chief. His wife has been identified as 21-year-old Patience Pittman.

Winfield investigators said Pittman was shot to death in the kitchen of the family home while two children, ages 1 and 6, were inside.

Burleson said it is too early to determine a motive.

“It’s still early in the investigation. It would be hard to speculate right now,” Burleson said.

A cousin was also living with the family, according to the chief. Burleson said after the shooting, Parnell took the children and forced the cousin at gunpoint to drive to North Carolina, where Parnell and Pittman were from.

The group went to the home of Parnell’s parents, Burleson said. His parents called local authorities after Parnell told them what he had done, according to the chief.

“What makes this so tough is one of the children wasn’t his and so he takes this child and the smaller child and leaves the state with them,” Burleson said.

Pittman was known in the spa business in Winfield, according to Linda Silas, mother of The Sanctuary Spa’s owner.

Silas said Pittman joined the spa’s team in April as a nail technician and made an immediate impact with her clients.

“She loved her clients and she did beautiful work, all of her clients loved her as well,” Silas said.

Prosecutors plan to charge Parnell with capital murder once he returns to Alabama, according to the chief.

On Tuesday, Burleson told WBRC that his investigators won’t leave North Carolina until Wednesday because they are still working to interview people Parnell and Pittman both knew.