Well-intentioned father-son duo pick up hitchhiker on Georgia road — only to learn he’s a murder suspect

A father-son duo picked up a hitchhiker on a Georgia road this week, then later learned the foul-smelling man was wanted for murder, according to police and a report.

Russell Jimmerson was driving Tuesday morning when he spotted a stranger on the side of the road trying to hitch a ride and decided to lend a helping hand.

“He just stuck his hand out, just very quickly. I told my son, ‘Let’s get him.’ I help everybody,” Jimmerson told WXIA. “He’d been up all night, walking from Rabun County.”

Jimmerson said the 23-year-old, later identified as Keegan Phillips, had a backpack on him and absolutely reeked once he got into his truck.

The father dropped him off a short time later along the highway and then learned he had just given a ride to an alleged killer.

Jimmerson received a phone call as local residents became aware that authorities were on the hunt for a wanted man, the television station reported.

After he was told that a “guy in Rabun County” murdered someone last night, Jimmerson’s said he replied, “’Man, you won’t believe what I’m fixing to tell you. There’s a smell in this that’s awful.”

Phillips, of North Carolina, was charged with the murder after authorities arrested him without incident, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

He is being held in Rabun County jail.

The search for Phillips was sparked after authorities found the dead body of a person in the Chattahoochee – Oconee National Forest on Monday. The Rabun Sheriff’s Office received a tip the day before about the killing.

Phillips wasn’t the only person charged in connection to the slaying.

Georgia man Robert Lee Peppers, 62, was charged with concealing a death and unlawful disposal of a body, state investigators said.