Bail for a man accused of murdering two Ardmore residents and driving one victim’s body through Alabama this month has been raised to $1 million, records show.

Fred Somerville, 47, has been charged in Limestone County for capital murder relating to the deaths of his estranged wife, Lakresha Somerville, and Ardmore resident Bruce Cosman. He was arrested July 19, the day after Cosman’s murder, in Pickens County.

According to Birmingham news station WBRC, officers received information that a stolen vehicle had been found in Aliceville. When authorities approached the vehicle, they found Fred Somerville asleep inside. He refused to follow orders and tried to flee. An officer fired shots at the vehicle, which Blakely said belonged to Lakresha Somerville. After the vehicle was stopped, officials found Lakresha Somerville’s body in the passenger seat.

Blakely said she had been dead several hours from a single gunshot wound to the head. Officials have not released where or when she was killed.

Somerville was taken to the Pickens County Jail on charges of reckless endangerment, abuse of a corpse, first-degree theft of property and attempting to elude. Bail was initially set at $100,000.

However, state court records show the bail has since been increased to a total of $1 million — $300,000 for each of the first three charges and $100,000 for attempting to elude. Somerville remains in the Pickens County Jail.

Somerville appeared before Pickens County District Judge David Bailey on July 22. Bailey appointed attorney Brandon Scott Foster to defend Somerville.

Limestone charge

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones said only one count of capital murder has been filed in Limestone County for Somerville. Blakely previously told media outlets there were still “hundreds of hours” of investigating left to do, including determining when and where Lakresha Somerville was taken and when and where she died.

Lakresha Somerville’s mother reported her missing and possibly kidnapped July 18. Friends and family said she was last seen that afternoon going to the Dollar General in Ardmore, Tennessee.

That night, 74-year-old Cosman and his wife were at their home in Ardmore, Alabama, when they heard a noise in their backyard around 7 p.m. Cosman went to inspect the source of the noise and was shot multiple times. He was declared dead at the scene.

Blakely said in a press conference last week Somerville is charged with capital murder for Cosman’s death. He would not speculate why Somerville was in the Cosmans’ backyard but said there was evidence to suggest he was there at the time of the murder.

Jones said an arrest warrant has been issued for Somerville on the capital murder charge but it has not yet been served.