North Carolina police arrested and charged a former member of the U.S. military for the murder of an 81-year-old hitchhiker. (Jochen Tack/Mettman Police)
(Tribune News Service) — A former member of the U.S. military is facing accusations he killed a hitchhiker for entertainment, then hid the body, according to investigators in North Carolina.
The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office in Elizabethtown, N.C., arrested and charged Nicolai Chisala Hubbling with first-degree murder, according to a June 12 news release. The remains of 81-year-old William Scott Lowry have yet to be found.
Hubbling, 21, lives in Tennessee, but was stationed in the Bladen County area as a member of the U.S. military when Lowry vanished in 2024, the sheriff’s office said.
“On April 22, 2025, Bladen County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous tip. The caller stated Nicolai Hubbling had reportedly told several acquaintances about his love of killing animals to dissect but it wasn’t enough, he wanted more,” the sheriff’s office said.
“Hubbling reportedly stated he had shot and killed William Lowry who appeared to be hitchhiking just outside of Fayetteville on a rural road in Bladen County and disposed of his body in an unknown location.”
The tip launched an investigation that revealed Hubbling had recently been discharged from the military in North Carolina and moved to Old Hickory, Tennessee, about a 540-mile drive northwest from Fayetteville.
A joint operation involving Bladen County deputies and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office took Hubbling into custody May 29 as he was leaving his home, officials said. He is being held without bond in Wilson County, awaiting extradition to North Carolina, the sheriff’s office said.
Details of Hubbling’s military service were not released, but the U.S. Army’s Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield are located northwest of Bladen County, according to Military.com.
Lowry was reported missing on Aug. 27. He was last seen walking near his home on F.L. McDaniel Road in the unincorporated Ammon community, about an 85-mile drive south from Raleigh, officials said.
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