Nightmare situation on the Appalachian Trail in Southwest Virginia. Investigators say 30 year old James L. Jordan of West Yarmouth, Massachusetts who identifies as “Sovereign on the Appalachian Trail” threatened four hikers on the trail on the night of Friday May 10th.
The Washington Post reports Jordan was “acting disturbed and unstable, and was playing his guitar and singing” before he threatened to douse a group of 4 hikers in gasoline and burn them to death. After threatening to burn them alive, the hikers attempted to escape, but Jordan approached them wielding a 20-inch knife. 
Two of the hikers fled to safety. He stabbed a male hiker in the upper body while another the female hiker fled. The wounded man was able to send an SOS signal from his phone, but when help arrived he was already dead. Jordan then chased down the female hiker and stabbed her multiple times. The woman fell to the ground and pretended to be dead.
Jordan left her for dead. Although wounded she was able get away and find the two other surviving hikers who helped her walk six miles until they were able to call 911 at 3:12 a.m. When the authorities came on scene several hours later, Jordan was found sitting with blood on his clothes and was taken into custody.
