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MYSTERY IN GEORGIA


87-year-old Shirley Dermond & 88-year-old Russell Dermond. RIP.

I've been loosely following this story for a few weeks. The couple was retired and had been married for nearly 70 years. They were brutally murdered in their lakefront private estate home in Putnam County.

THE BODIES
Russell's body was found in the garage of the home on May 6^th. He had been beheaded. LE has still not located his head. The coroner has since determined that he died of blunt force trauma and was dead before he was decapitated.

Shirley was initially presumed abducted, but her badly decomposed body was located in a lake near the home a couple of weeks later and it's looking like she was killed in early May as well. She also died of blunt force trauma and was dead before thrown in the lake.

THE CRIME SCENE
There were no signs of a break-in or a struggle in the Dermond home and no ransom note.

So far, there doesn't appear to be any surveillance footage of use in the investigation.

After finding Shirley's body in the lake, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills feels confident that the killer(s) used a boat as transportation.


Sheriff Howard Sills is leading the investigation

THE INVESTIGATION / POTENTIAL SUSPECTS?
According to news reports, the case has got Georgia LE completely stumped (that may be an appearance LE is intentionally creating for public record, or it may be true).

This seems very personal, to me. Sheriff Sills is working on the presumption that the killer(s) knew the Dermonds and that there were at least two people involved.

The couple has three adult children, to whom the parents' home was released after crime scene processing was completed. The home is on the shore of sprawling Lake Oconee in the Greensboro area -- a low crime very upscale area.

I'd like to know if any of the children or their family members had problems with the couple, if there was a sizable inheritance in play, if they have any associates or children or exes with grudges, etc... I'm not accusing their kids, but they'd logically be at the top of my potential suspect list and I expect that Sheriff Sills and the FBI task force is looking at them closely.

There was a fourth sibling who was killed in a drug deal nearly 15 years ago, but LE has stated there's nothing to indicate a connection between that and the elder Desmonds' murders.

I don't know what Russell and/or Shirley did for a living before retirement, but business associates would be at the top of my potential suspect list, too -- seems the couple was well-off.

There's a $30k reward for information leading to an arrest.

Refs:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/still-no-ans...ia-couple/
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/local/h...y/9483813/
http://www.unionrecorder.com/local/x3604...led?zc_p=1

(HOTD edit: corrected husband's first name -- it's Russell not Ralph)

I read about this when it happened. At the time, one of the sons expressed how worried they were about their Mom and how they hoped she wasn't suffering or words to that effect. They were seniors, how much of a fight could they have put up for godssake. Cutting someone's head off seems pretty freaking extreme.

(06-13-2014, 09:37 PM)Duchess Wrote: [ -> ]I read about this when it happened. At the time, one of the sons expressed how worried they were about their Mom and how they hoped she wasn't suffering or words to that effect. They were seniors, how much of a fight could they have put up for godssake. Cutting someone's head off seems pretty freaking extreme.

Thanks Duchess -- I found the interview with the son, Bradley Dermond.
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/local/h...g/8785833/

Sheriff Sills has stated that he doesn't believe this is the work of the mob or a drug cartel and he thinks it's someone known to the couple.

There are only three reasons that I can think of to cut off the head after someone is dead and take it: (1) trophy for a psycho killer, (2) hate -- the killer wanted to do more damage to Russell's face/head elsewhere, (3) proof of the kill -- a hit. In this case, taking the man's head couldn't have been to delay ID -- the body was left in the victim's own home.

Really weird and gruesome case.

LE isn't releasing much information about the victims.

Some very depraved individual(s) is on the loose -- hope the killer(s) is identified and arrested soon.

They may have also taken the head to make it appear they were a trophy hunter, a red herring so to speak.
I agree it about had to be someone they knew, money the most likely motive

or 4/ They began taking the bodies apart to transport them/dispose of them more easily and avoid them being identified quickly, but got spooked or simply didn't have the stomach for it after removing the head. Maybe explains why he was in the garage.

Local Theories and a little more about the Dermonds


The Dermonds' million dollar home

Some of the most common (local theories) are that the Dermonds, origially from New Jersey, had organized crime ties and were victims of a mob hit or that their deaths are related to the killing of their oldest son in 2000 in a drug deal gone bad. The craziest tip authorities got was that it was likely a female alligator seeking food for her young, the sheriff said.

Sills is tired of all the theories and speculation. He has investigated the Dermonds' lives in depth and has determined that they worked hard, paid their taxes, went to church. There's no indication of any illegal activity or association with unsavory characters, he said. There's no indication that anything was taken from the home. He simply can't figure out who would want the Dermonds dead.

Russell Dermond had a corporate job and moved around until finally ending up in the Atlanta area. After he retired, he got into the fast food business, buying a number of chain restaurants. When he retired for a second time, he and his wife moved south to Lake Oconee. He played golf regularly until a few years ago and still liked to take walks, the sheriff said.

Shirley Dermond was an avid bridge player, rarely missing the twice-weekly meetings of her club.

They lived a remarkably simple life, Sills said. Russell Dermond only had two credit cards and put everything on those to rack up rewards points. He didn't even have an ATM card as he never carried cash, the sheriff said.

They were regulars at the Lake Oconee Community Church, missing services only when they went to visit their children in other states, Pastor David Key said. They were social and clearly had money but didn't flaunt it, he said. "They were just a nice, unassuming couple," Key said.

The Dermonds had three sons and a daughter. Their oldest son had a serious drug problem and was shot to death while trying to buy drugs in a rough neighborhood in Atlanta in 2000, Sills said.

The Dermonds' oldest living son, Keith, did not return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. The other two children could not be reached. But Sills said he's questioned all three (of the couple's children) at length and talks to at least one of them almost every day. They've been extremely cooperative, answering his inquiries quickly and getting him any information he needs.

While he's not positive the killer or killers arrived and left by boat to reach the secluded cove where the couple's home sits, Sills is certain a boat was used to dispose of Shirley Dermond's body, which was found in the lake about five and a half miles from their home.

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/13/uns...thorities/

Always look to the immediate offspring, IMO.

One of the kids is in need of $$$ and can't wait around for the parents to die naturally.

The lopping off the head is a red herring as Six has surmised.

Hitman training op.