William Boyette Mary Rice suspects
William 'Billy' Boyette and Mary Rice were wanted for questioning over four murders in Florida and Alabama Santa Rosa County Sheriff

A Florida man sought by police in connection with four homicides in the US has been found dead in Georgia.

William "Billy" Boyette died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following an hour-long standoff with police at the West Point Motel, near the border with Alabama, on Tuesday (8 February).

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His alleged female accomplice, Mary Rice, has been taken into custody according to the Troup County Sheriff's office in Georgia, report CNN.

Boyette, 44, described as "deranged" by police, had, alongside Rice, been wanted in connection with suspected murders of four women.

Alicia Greer, 30, and Jacqueline Jeanette Moore, 39, were found shot dead at a motel in Milton, Florida on 31 January (2017). Mother-of-three Greer had been in an "abusive" relationship with Boyette for several months.

On 3 February, 52-year-old Peggy Broz was shot dead in her home in Lillian, Alabama and her car was stolen. Then, on Monday (6 February), Kayla Crocker, 32, was shot and critically injured in her home in nearby Pensacola. Her two-year-old child was there but did not see the shooting.

The pair drove Crocker's car to the West Point Motel in Alabama. After the vehicle was recognised and reported stolen the following morning, police moved in.

Rice came out of the motel room and was arrested by member of the county's SWAT unit. A gunshot was heard seconds later and Boyette found dead.

Rice, 37, had initially been listed as a person of interest, until CCTV footage showed her both accompanying Boyette without struggle and buying bullets in Walmart.

Rice will now be extradited to Florida or Alabama to face murder charges and is also charged as an accessory after the fact to the first two murders, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told CNN affiliate HLN. "We are 100% sure she was a willing participant," said Sheriff Johnson.

Rice's brother, Joe Craig, previously told WKRG his sister had been turning her life around expressed disbelief at the suggestion of her involvement. "These senseless killings and rampages. That's not like her. We just want her home safe," he said.