When most people get texts or letters meant for someone else, we either shrug it off or ask whoever it is to stop sending those mistakes. But when Walmart started texting a North Carolina man about prescriptions for someone else, he thought it meant he’d been discovered as a murderer after killing a woman 17 years ago.

Those texts sent to Jane Smith, as we’ll call her, were followed by voice mails and a letter from Walmart as well, reports the Charlotte Observer. And because the man receiving them didn’t know the name of the woman he confessed to killing in Arizona all those years ago, he thought the name in the texts was her.

He told police he was afraid that someone knew, and that they were toying with him. So he drove across the country to Arizona and sought police protection. Once there, he reportedly confessed to an a murder no one had previously tied to him.

“In his own mind … somebody knew what happened after all these years,” a police department spokesman said.

His attorney says his client wants to plead guilty to manslaughter and start his 10-year sentence immediately.

In the meantime, yes, this means Jane Smith’s prescriptions are ready to be picked up and she might have no idea… unless she happens to read the news (again, not the woman’s real name).

Walmart Accidentally Texts Wrong Person About Prescriptions, He Ends Up Confessing To Murder [Charlotte Observer]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.