06-13-2014, 09:16 PM
MYSTERY IN GEORGIA
![[Image: 1399555579000-dermonds.JPG]](http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a02b3c3adad81529def2d6cae795fc9fdb6f354a/c=104-2-770-500&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/WMAZ/WMAZ/2014/05/08//1399555579000-dermonds.JPG)
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 6th. 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.
![[Image: 5376ac48612e0.preview-300.jpg]](http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/msgr.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/2b/a2bcbc40-dd59-11e3-8735-001a4bcf887a/5376ac48612e0.preview-300.jpg)
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)
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 6th. 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)