SPANISH FORT, Ala. — “We are here to announce the arrest of Eric Leslie Buzbee for the murder of Bobby Wilson,” Baldwin County Sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery said at a press conference this morning.

Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said today that the Baldwin County grand jury had indicted Buzbee on two counts of capital murder: capital murder robbery and capital murder burglary. The grand jury has also returned an indictment — regarding an event separate and apart from the capital murder charges — of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, she said. Newcomb stated that the indictments were returned yesterday and Buzbee was taken into custody last evening. Buzbee has been considered a “person of interest.”

Buzbee, 23, is scheduled for an appearance in Bay Minette at 2 p.m. today for his bond hearing with Judge Robert Wilters.

On Aug. 11, 2007, Arthur “Bobby” Wilson, a 71-year-old gas service station owner, was severely beaten, robbed and left unconscious. Four months later on Dec. 28 Wilson died at a local hospital.

Newcomb stated that her office cannot comment on grand jury proceedings.

“There are two types of capital murder charges that apply to that situation,” she said.

One crime is committed during a robbery and where money was taken and one is capital murder burglary charge, since there was unlawful entry and money taken. The case will be assigned to a judge and a scheduling order will be forthcoming, according to Newcomb.

“It is the position of everybody involved in this very lengthy investigation is that this is just the first step in the process,” she said. “We are expecting to try this case in court and not the media.”

Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack said that Buzbee needs to go before a jury.

Lowery said that there are no other suspects at this time and no weapon has been recovered.

“The investigation had been thorough,” he said.

Police Chief David Edgar said that they had received a lot of information about the case and used all of the information received. Mack said that so far no one has collected the reward money and someone receiving the award money is contingent upon the conviction of a person or persons. A group called “The Friends of Bobby Wilson” has raised $32,000 for the reward. He added that this was in a way some form of closure, but is in a sense it is just another step in the process.

“We had experts,” Mack said about forensic science and the Alabama Attorney General’s office. “This (murder charge) is as serious as it gets.” He emphasized that it takes time to close a case.

“This is not like TV — this is real life,” he said.