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A doctor who shot and wounded a suspected killer who had abducted him and his wife said the five-hour experience was "the most trying ordeal I have ever endured."

Dr. Samuel Peebles said Scott J. Eizember, who had claimed he was having car trouble, pulled a gun as soon as he and his wife, Suzanne, let him in their van in Arkansas on Sunday.

Eizember, 42, is charged in the Oct. 18 deaths of Patsy Cantrell, 70, and her husband, A.J. Cantrell, 76, in northeastern Oklahoma. He also allegedly beat up the mother of his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Biggs, and wounded her teenage son.

He had eluded one of Oklahoma's longest manhunts until he was captured Sunday in Texas after Peebles shot him.

Eizember told police he had been hiding in Oklahoma for several weeks, first in the woods and then at a church, where he ate from a food bank.

A volunteer at the food bank spotted him Sunday morning and fled, leaving behind her car keys. Eizember took her car and drove about 200 miles to Arkansas. When it ran out of gas, Eizember got into the Peebleses' van and told them to drive south.

The couple said they hummed hymns to each other while Eizember held them prisoner. At one point, Eizember made Suzanne Peebles, 50, call Biggs. Authorities traced the call to the couple and began looking for the couple's van.

Samuel Peebles said he reached under the seat for his wife's handgun when Eizember stopped on a rural Lufkin, Texas, road for a restroom break.

"When he (Eizember) came back to the vehicle, I shot what I thought was four times, but the police later told me that I emptied all nine shots," Peebles said. Four of the shots hit Eizember.

Eizember got up and pistol-whipped Samuel Peebles on the head.

"I told the Lord I was ready to see him," the doctor said. "Suzanne was begging him not to shoot me, and he hit her in the head, too."

Police said that luckily for the doctor and his wife, the firing pin in Eizember's gun was damaged.

"This past Sunday was the most trying ordeal I have ever endured," Peebles said. "First of all, I want to state emphatically that I am not a hero." He said he only did what he had to do.

The wounded Eizember escaped in the couple's van but was captured near Corrigan, Texas, about 25 miles south of Lufkin.

Doctors expect Eizember could leave the hospital as early as Friday to face murder and other charges, said Capt. James Galloway of the Angelina County, Texas, Sheriff's Department.

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"I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. . . . . .
They've experienced pain and bought jewelry."