Vincent Smothers has confessed to as many as seven killings

Vincent Smothers, 27, has confessed to as many as seven killings -- including the contract killing of a Detroit police sergeant's wife -- and is expected to be charged today with first-degree murder in connection with a double-killing in Detroit in 2007, Bully-Cummings said. "When an individual tells you this is what he does for an occupation, I think that is the definition of a hit man," Bully-Cummings said at a press conference this afternoon. Smothers was arrested in Shelby Township late Saturday night. Police said he told them he was a professional hit man who had committed a string of killings, including the Dec. 26, 2007, killing of Rose Cobb, 47, outside a CVS pharmacy on East Jefferson. On Sunday, hours after the arrest of Smothers, Detroit police arrested Rose Cobb's husband, Sgt. David Cobb, who worked in the eastern district of Detroit police, in connection with Rose Cobb's killing.
David Cobb is tentatively set to be arraigned in 36th District Court on Tuesday.
Police have identified three more suspects in connection with other slayings, but Bully-Cummings declined to say if more arrests had been made. At least some of those identified are people who are believed to have hired Smothers to kill. Smothers has been, "very cooperative" with detectives, Bully-Cummings said. He revealed a career that he claimed dates to the August 2006 slaying of one man, and then the first victim's brother five months later, she said. Smothers also has told police that he killed two people in the 59000 bock of Joseph Campau in May 2007.
He also is accused of killing two people in June 2007 on Gravier on the city's east side. Bully-Cummings said it is routine for investigators to bring up old unsolved crimes with a homicide suspect, just in case. As Smothers talked to investigators this weekend, the lead detectives of several old cases were called to police headquarters. Police are confident his stories are true.
"He provided information that nobody else knew," Bully-Cummings said.
Smothers was expected to be arraigned at 5 p.m. today in Detroit's 36th District Court, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy for the June 21, 2007, killings of Clarence Cherry, 34, and Gaudrielle Webster, 17. They were slain at an apartment building near Gravier and Cadieux.
In that incident, two men with guns tied up the two female occupants of the apartment and shot them both, killing one of them and critically injuring the other. Cherry was shot to death outside the building. Karsia Rice survived the attack.
police sergeant arrested after a man claimed he was paid to kill the sergeant's wife has been released from custody, and isn't facing charges.Assistant Police Chief Robert Dunlop says 38-year-old David Cobb was released Tuesday morning after spending 47 1/2 hours in custody. He was let go after prosecutors refused to authorize charges.
Cobb was arrested after a man charged with two murders told investigators that he was responsible for at least seven contract killings. One of those killings was Cobb's wife, who was killed outside of a pharmacy in December.
Wayne County prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller had no immediate comment.