WebChad Haufler, 45, is charged with murder after a shooting inside a home on Lake Oconee. He told Wilfon that even eight years later, the family remains optimistic the case will get solved. I still think they came by car, but there is no question whatsoever that Mrs. Dermonds body was, in my opinion, disposed of by boat, Sills said. On May 16, two fishermen on Lake Oconee found her body near a dam. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Channel 2s Justin Wilfon learned that there is new evidence from the FBI that is giving investigators new hope in trying to solve the case. It was wooded and very private. An autopsy found that she had died from either two or three deep wounds to the head from a blunt object. Nor any suspects. [1], Russell Joseph Dermond, a native of Hackensack, New Jersey, served in the United States Navy during World War II. Out at the Great Waters entrance, there is now a security gate, one of those arms that goes up and down when youre let in. I mean, just dead end after dead end.. Despite that, Im confident in our case, he said. Babys dad is charged with murder, Whats coming to Middle Georgia? Sheriff Sills said his office received new data, some of it cell phone data. Sills, 59, professorial and occasionally profane, has explored all avenues, obvious and not so, including the circumstances surrounding the murder of the Dermonds eldest child, Mark C. Dermond. But prosecutor Allison Mauldin said Tuesday that the physical evidence was also damning. We got the call from my brother-in law, and he was a total mess. "Im not going to say its absolutely physically impossible, but its highly unlikely.". We used some of the most advanced underwater electronic equipment that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division has in an attempt to find Shirley Dermonds body, as well as the head of her husband, Sills said. Im not exaggerating, Sills said. And when the crime scene, in all likelihood, was a $769,000 lake house. Thursday marked 8-years since someone killed Shirley and Russell Dermond at their Lake Oconee home. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Her body was found by fishermen on Lake Oconee, weighed down with two 30-pound concrete blocks tied to her. But he was also realistic. I know damn well that Im the man responsible for this. Updated May 05, 2021 8:25 AM For seven years, the killings of Russell and Shirley Dermond at Lake Oconee have gone unsolved, the motive unknown and the WebThe murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond are believed to have occurred four days before authorities ever knew that the unthinkable had happened. Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, at (706) 485-8557. And since that demand could not be satisfied, both she and her husband were killed. Their front door was unlocked. The sheriff told Wilfon that unfortunately, leads in the case have really slowed down. Heres a list of the homicides in Macon in 2023. Might the slayings be the work of burglars the Dermonds walked in on? "It's been eight years, I'm sorry," he said. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles. They dont even know how he was murdered, because we dont have his head, a frustrated Brad said about his fathers brutal death. It was the last time she was seen alive. A local sheriff says data provided to the FBI might help them solve the grisly double homicide of an elderly pair eight years ago. He was the lead investigator in the 1999 shooting deaths of a woman and her 2-year-old daughter whose bodies were found in the trunk of a burned-out car. Search continues for person who decapitated elderly man at Lake Oconee home Richard Elliot reports. Both her and dad, total family people. Shed gone to her duplicate bridge club meeting in Eatonton the Thursday before her death. WebLake Oconee double murder probe turns to NY for clues; Person of interest identified in murder, beheading of elderly couple; Mystery man emerges in year-old Ga. beheading Heres why, Study shows colorectal cancer showing up more in younger people, Atlanta neighbors want to reclaim and revitalize the Joyland neighborhood, Kemp administration deals blow to Buckhead cityhood push, Georgia Power proposes steep rate increase for customers - How it affects what you pay. Still others wonder if the slayings were a plot by religious zealots to embarrass the sheriff for sending Nuwaubian leader Dwight York to federal prison for life in a heralded case from a decade ago. Later that evening, before dinner, Brad spoke to his parents on the phone. [2], Russell was last seen alive on May 1, 2014, as he was running errands in Eatonton. They hope deputies are able to find their parents' killers. Sills has told The Telegraph that he and his deputies are not muddling along in the dark. An investigators has said the Dermond home was kept so neat and clean that youd eat off the floors.. On May 6, one neighbor went to the Dermonds' house to check on them. And theres more than one person involved in this, Lake Oconee double murder probe turns to NY for clues, Person of interest identified in murder, beheading of elderly couple, Mystery man emerges in year-old Ga. beheading case, 5 years later, sheriff still agonizes over brutal cold case murders, Timeline of 2 Murders: How the Killings of Russell and Shirley Dermond Unfolded, The Murders of Elderly Georgia Couple Russell and Shirley Dermond: A Beheading and No Leads. They had a huge retirement house overlooking a beautiful lake in Georgia. Its very hard to catch somebody when you dont even know their motive. The neighbors, the woman and her 75-year-old husband, were no doubt the first people in the Dermond home after a crime that has puzzled and frustrated investigators from the outset. His wife, who was not beheaded, died from blows to the skull, wounds possibly inflicted with something like a hammer, Sills said. Though Sills declined to elaborate, he mentioned the sighting of a potential suspect outside the Dermond house at 147 Carolyn Drive. There have been 11 violent homicides in Macon this year, including five in February, Heres how to qualify for medical marijuana in Georgia, Pregnant woman shot in the head, Georgia cops say. But the thing is, a lot of the times serial killers are very hard to catch. Sheriff Howard Sills, who is personally spearheading the probe, earlier this week declined to publicly divulge what evidentiary avenue was being pursued, but told The Telegraph that the effort could prove promising. Despite what the listing describes as large windows found in every room, the house sits in a tree-shrouded lot. Haufler had bruises on his back and elbows, according to his attorney. [2] He married Shirley Wilcox on December 15, 1950. According to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, there were no signs of forced entry or indications of a struggle in the home. Movies. A $45,000 reward was offered. Investigators said they believe the towels were put down around the decapitated body to keep the blood from seeping out under the garage door. Theyll say, They never came up with nothing on that murder, did they? Ill say, Well, youre looking at they. Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Low 66F. Ill just say that there was valuable evidence that we have yet to match up to anything.. Theres been a lot of brick walls in this case, Henry said. (FOX 5). Dermond might have been taken and held against her will until some sort of demand was made. Despite the non-stop efforts of local law enforcement, this cruel murder case has never been solved. It weighs heavy on me, Sills said. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His message, he said, would touch on coming to grips with something that should not have happened., Thats what makes it even a stranger story. In May 2014, Shirley and Russell Dermond were killed. Jessica Noll is a multimedia journalist, who focuses on in-depth, investigative crime/justice reports for 11Alive's digital platforms. A neighbor had invited the Dermonds to a Derby party, but they never showed up. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. "If there was an enemy out there, (it) would have taken place a lot sooner than that.". Low 66F. WebGREENE COUNTY, Ga. A man accused of killing his friend at a Lake Oconee mansion walked out of jail Monday evening, released on a technicality. (Provided), Brad Dermond looks at years' worth of memories with his parents, Shirley and Russell Dermond. Hes probably the nicest person I met in my entire life, said neighbor Mark OConnell, calling Haufler an honorable man.. Come Wednesday, a year will have passed since that emergency call, since the frantic womans husband found the decapitated body of their 88-year-old friend, Russell J. Submitted photo In 2014, Russell and Shirley Dermond were the victims of a brutal Lake Oconee murder that shocked the country. Menu. The youngest of four, 55-year-old Dermond, says his parents were very private people and that they would hate that he is talking about them at all. It was also believed the head was not taken as a trophy. "Obviously mom and dad at that point were in their mid-to-late 80s," Brad Dermond said. [4] Ten days later, Shirley's body was found by fishermen on Lake Oconee. The Dermond case has all but consumed him. Married nearly 64 years, the couple did everything togetherincluding taking their last breaths. A year ago, he said, I would have expected (the authorities) to have found something by now., These days there are few places the sheriff can go without someone recognizing him and asking about that case.. Sills narrowed the timeframe of Russells murder to somewhere between 4:30 p.m., on May 1when the mail was deliveredto 6 p.m., on May 4, when the couple failed to show up for the party. [I] almost couldnt even decipher what he was talking about, he said. A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. If you have any information that could help, you are asked to call the Putnam County Sheriffs Office. They have led investigators to other parts of Georgia and out of state. I think the only chance we have at this point (is) that he trips himself up., This week, while Sheriff Sills declined to elaborate on what clue he may have in hand, he said the material was something I am actively working on.. Support by joining KMH+ and by checking out our merch shop! They have merited days, weeks of inquiry. That, and unanswered questions. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. But after some neighbors went over to their home searching for them, they were nowhere to be found. (Jessica Noll / WXIA), Held up by push pins, the Dermonds' unsolved murder poster is faded, but remains on the Putnam County Sheriff's bulletin board as soon as you walk inside. Oldest son Chad is now a sheriffs deputy in Florida. She was on the phone, gasping, breathless in the 11 seconds it took someone to answer and say, Putnam County 911., Yes, uh, I have an emergency, the woman, 68, said. He said he also believes that when Shirley Dermonds body was tossed into the lake, the killers could easily have thrown Russell Dermonds head into the lake at the same time. You have no clue as to what youre looking for. Henry is 62, a slim, deep-voiced, Vidalia-born career cop. WebA few days ago, Howard Sills, Putnam Countys plain-spoken, sometimes-philosophical sheriff, rose from bed at 5:38 a.m., bedeviled yet again by crimes as confounding and Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. I dont want to create an impression that I have acquired some silver bullet, but this is yet another tool we are using trying to find out who perpetrated these heinous crimes. Friends of the couple grew concerned. Marc Dimos will be laid to rest Thursday in Ohio. For a decade and a half, from about the turn of the century on, the Dermonds had called Lake Oconee home. Once I knew the backgrounds of Russell and Shirley Dermond, I have always thought that this was some sort of extortion, Sills told the newspaper. Like most days, he said, they just chatted about how their day went with each other. Investigators do not believe the two incidents are connected. The biggest roadblock is motive. The two-story Dermond home, a four-bedroom, four-bath, 3,500-square-footer in a wooded cul-de-sac overlooking a cove, is now on the market. If theres somebody whos going to get this thing solved, its going to be him.. But theres no way for us to search all of Lake Oconee to try to find the missing head. OConnell told the judge hed be willing to put up his home to cover Hauflers bond. Both were very religious, and Shirley was an avid writer, artist and crossword puzzle enthusiast. The Dermonds would move to the Great Waters Reynolds subdivision, a gated community located about twelve miles northeast of Eatonton and some 70 miles southwest of Atlanta. They had a great relationship, said Monica Haufler, Chad Hauflers wife of 25 years. He became the face of an unsolved crime that fascinated viewers and newspaper readers across the region. Russell's decapitated body was found on the floor of his two-car garage, lying in a small pool of blood. Theres such a thing of Gods wrath. But, I cant find anyone who had an ax to grind with them and I cant find any connections to any kind of criminal enterprise or other activity, whatsoever.. WebHer body was found by fishermen on Lake Oconee, weighed down with two 30-pound concrete blocks tied to her. Russell Dermonds head has never been found. It was 10 days before her fate was known. Russ, once an avid golfer when he and Shirley lived near Roswell, had called it a career after more than 10 years in the restaurant business. Sills did not offer other details about the cell phone data, or if it belonged to anyone from the small, rural community where the couple was found dead. Henry spent most of his years as a homicide detective at agencies in Gwinnett County. They have the responsibility of coming forward., We may not like how long it takes, but it will be solved, Brad said with optimism. The elderly couple, who lived in the affluent gated community of Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Putnam County, was brutally slain sometime over the weekend of the Kentucky Derby in May 2014. He ran a chain of metro-Atlanta Hardees eateries. Anyone with information about this unsolved double-murder is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriffs Office at 706-485-8557. Investigators believe that there is no connection between this crime and the murder of Mark's parents. Unsolved murders and disappearances, by nature, generate their share of speculation. Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said its a case he still thinks about every day, now eight years later. His killer remains in prison, and people on the slayings periphery -- relatives, friends and others -- appear to have played no role in his parents deaths. Police discovered Russells headless body in the garage in between the couples two cars. His wife was found days later in a nearby lake having been weighed down. Russell Dermond, 88, and his wife Shirley Dermond, 87, were brutally murdered in their gated community overlooking Lake Oconee, Georgia, in 2014, according to Fox Macon affiliate WGXA. A real estate listing touts the homes expansive views and mentions fresh paint, new carpet.. But the memories are bittersweet, because that is all that remains. If Russell Dermond was shot in the head like we believe was the case, there is likely a bullet inside and if that weapon that was used to kill him was used to commit another crime and that case got solved, then the bullet from that weapon could be used to match it back to the killing of Russell Dermond, Sills said. Before joining Sills staff in 2012, he helped train police investigators in Iraq. An autopsy revealed she died from blunt-force trauma having been hit two or three times. Hed do the same thing for anyone sitting in this room, said Matt Luttermoser, a friend since childhood. Brad was at his sons baseball game when he got the worst call of his life. On Friday, Sills said he recently received long-awaited cell phone data. Sills has chased down leads across the country, but still nothing to solve the case. 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