Police in the United States have arrested Christopher Fuller, man accused of fatally shooting Ghanaian young man, Ernest appiah and burying his body in a lumber company in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Court records said just hours after police say Christopher Fuller fatally shot and buried Appiah, Fuller hopped on a plane and flew to California.

Cell phones found to be pinging in the area of those Paxton woods the night Ernest Appiah is believed to have been killed led state police detectives to the arrest of Fuller, a Worcester resident, in connection with Appiah’s murder, court documents show.
Two cell phones belonging to Fuller, 30, were found to be pinging in the area of Asnebumskit Road the night authorities believe Appiah was fatally shot and buried, court records show.

The lifeless body of Ernest was discovered in the woods off of Asnebumskit Road in Paxton on Saturday, March 5, 2022, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. said in a statement.

The body was discovered just before 7 a.m. on Saturday after a resident spotted it about 25 feet into the wooded Paxton area off the road and notified police.

Following an autopsy, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Appiah’s death a homicide, the district attorney’s office said.

While investigating in the area of Asnebumskit Road, state police detectives learned that Paxton Police Department had an Apple iPhone 7 with a black case that contained a Massachusetts driver’s license for Christopher Fuller. The phone was turned in to police on March 2 by a resident who found the phone on Asnebumskit Road, officials said.

The phone number for the cell phone was identified as belonging to Fuller, court records said.

Fuller and Appiah frequented a Worcester establishment the night of Feb., 27 into the early morning hours of Feb. 28 before the two men were seen exiting together and walking towards Fuller’s white Mercedes-Benz sedan, court documents show.

After leaving the business, the two were filmed on surveillance footage traveling towards Paxton.

Shortly after, two cell phones belonging to Fuller pinged in the area of Asnebumskit Road. That night, police believe, Fuller left Appiah there in the woods, dead.

A witness told investigators Fuller admitted to shooting and killing Appiah and burying him in the snow after leaving the Worcester business, authorities said.

During a forensic analysis of Fuller’s car, investigators confirmed the presence of gunshot residue inside the vehicle, court documents said.

Hours after burying Appiah, Fuller hopped on a plane and flew to California and did not return, police said.

It’s unclear when Fuller returned to Massachusetts.

Fuller was arrested at a Worcester residence on Monday without incident. He was arraigned in East Brookfield District Court Tuesday on a murder charge and held without bail, the DA’s office said.

Fuller is due back in court on Aug. 12.