NEW DETAILS: Suspect in death of retired Auburn University professor has criminal history

Harold Dabney III/Courtesy: Auburn Police Department

Action 8 News is learning more about the suspect accused of killing a retired Auburn University professor at a park over the weekend.

As we’ve reported, police found the body of 59-year-old Dr. Julie Schnuelle in some woods at Kiesel Park in Auburn Saturday.

Dr. Schnuelle worked in Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine from 2003 to 2021, where she retired as professor emerita.

Officers took Harold Rashad Dabney III into custody Sunday and charged him with two counts of capital murder.

Dr. Julie Gard Schnuelle – Photo from Auburn University

They made the arrest after getting a call of a suspicious person on Beehive Road.

Police say Dabney stole the pickup truck, which has been recovered.

According to court records, Dabney lived in Montgomery at some point in the last ten years.

Action 8 News has discovered that Dabney has a criminal history in Virginia.

In Virginia Beach in December 2023, he was charged with having a sawed-off shotgun — which is a felony.

He also faced misdemeanor gun charges, public intoxication and trespassing.

Records show that prosecutors didn’t pursue the felony charge, but he was found guilty of the other charges.

Dabney is charged with two counts of capital murder, which is allowed in Alabama even if there’s one victim.

Court records show he faces one count for causing her death during an abduction, with the intent to harm.

The other count is because he’s charged with robbing her of the truck by use of force against her.