Couple turns in grandson in murder case

TIFTON - James and Linda Harrell each suffered the loss of a murdered parent when they were young. <br> <br> So when they heard that two brothers had been robbed and killed while volunteering at a home for troubled boys, there was only one thing to do - turn in their grandson. <br> <br> The Harrells, a south Georgia farming couple, said they had an obligation to give the Georgia Bureau of Investigation information that led to the arrest of their grandson, 21-year-old Donnie ``DJ&#39;&#39; Hulett Jr. Hulett may face the death penalty on murder charges. <br> <br> ``We felt like we were doing right and felt like something else was going to happen if he wasn&#39;t locked up,&#39;&#39; James Harell told the Rome News-Tribune. ``We&#39;re just poor folks trying to make a living and wanted to do the right thing.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hulett is accused of killing Larry Phelps, 62, a retired Whitfield County educator from Dalton, and Arvine Phelps, 69, a retired Dalton State College professor from Rocky Face. They were found July 22, shot while clearing brush near the Mountain Top Boys Home in Villanow, a residence for teenagers who have been in juvenile court. <br> <br> Linda Harrell was 6 years old when her mother was found dead in a front room of her home in Macon in 1951. She died from a single shotgun blast, and the only witness disappeared before police could find the killer. <br> <br> James Harrell was 16 when his father was found dead on the side of a highway where he had been driving his tractor-trailer home from North Carolina. He likely was robbed by a hitchhiker, his son said, but the family was told he had fallen asleep behind the wheel. <br> <br> ``We know how people like the Phelps feel,&#39;&#39; James Harrell said. ``No one is able to put themselves in their shoes but our hearts go out to them because we have dealt with the same thing. We know how the family felt.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Harrells heard about the Phelps double murder on an evening newscast. They immediately started putting things together. <br> <br> A few hours earlier, they had received a call from a friend in Centerville, who said Hulett had been at his house. Hulett had a new Ford truck, a sack full of money and was showing off a couple of guns, including a hunting rifle similar to the one used to kill the Phelps brothers. <br> <br> The Phelps&#39; attacker had escaped with the men&#39;s cash and Larry Phelps&#39; red truck. <br> <br> ``One and one added to two and we sorta looked at each other,&#39;&#39; Linda Harrell said. <br> <br> The next day, she called Hulett&#39;s parole officer and was put in contact with a GBI agent. That launched the manhunt that would end with the fugitive&#39;s arrest at a convenience store in Casa Grade, Ariz., some 1,860 miles from Villanow. <br> <br> ``We didn&#39;t do it because we hate him,&#39;&#39; said James Harrell, a former police officer in Moultrie and Macon. ``How else would he have the truck and the gun? What can we do? Facts are facts.&#39;&#39;