GA - Shirley & Russell Dermond, Putnam County Media Links*NO DISCUSSION***

bessie · May 16, 2014

Elderly man killed, wife missing in central Georgia

By Crimesider Staff CBS/AP -- May 7, 2014, 2:33 PM

EATONTON, Ga. - Police in central Georgia are investigating the slaying of an 88-year-old man and are also searching for his 87-year-old wife, who they fear might have been abducted from the couple's lakeside home.

Putnam County authorities say they went to the home of Russell and Shirley Dermond, in the Great Waters community on Lake Oconee, around 10 a.m. Tuesday. Friends of the Dermonds who had gone to the house found a body believed to be that of Russell Dermond, Putnan County Sheriff Howard Sills said. The body was found in the garage of the home, WMAZ-TV reported.

Shirley Dermond was not at the home, and investigators believe she may have been abducted, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elderly-man-killed-wife-missing-in-central-georgia/

The Associated Press May 7, 2014

Shirley Dermond, 87, was not at the home when authorities arrived and investigators believe she may have been abducted. Shirley Dermond is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 148 pounds. She has gray hair and blue eyes. She is not considered a suspect in her husband's death, Sills said.

Sills added that authorities are investigating whether the attacker may have approached the couple's home from the lake. The home is located in the gated Great Waters community on Lake Oconee.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2014/05/07/3085362/man-killed-wife-missing-in-central.html#storylink=cpy

published Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

"We haven't had a murder in Putnam County I know in, oh my, probably eight or nine years," Sills told the Macon TV station. "We virtually have no crime in the community where this occurred."

The sheriff said the crimes are believed to have happened sometime between Friday and Sunday. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of Russell Dermond's death.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/may/07/man-killed-wife-missing-central-georgia/

Police baffled by Lake Oconee mans death, missing wife

Updated: 4:45 p.m. Thursday, May 8, 2014 -- Posted: 7:18 a.m. Wednesday, May 7, 2014
By Christian Boone, Marcus K. Garner and Alexis Stevens

The death of Russell Dermond and the disappearance of his wife Shirley has baffled Putnam County investigators.

Ive worked a lot of murders and this is the strangest one Ive ever worked, said Sheriff Howard Sills. Were still trying to narrow down the window between Friday and Sunday. Im leaning more toward Friday or Saturday.

Russell Dermonds head was not located at the crime scene and Shirley Dermond was nowhere to be found, Sills said.

I do not believe this to be a random attack and I base that on several things, Sills said. No evidence of forced entry or struggle or things like that.

- See more at: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/lake-o...d-wife-possibly-k/nfqqR/#sthash.8CxfyId5.dpuf

Desperate search on for 87-year-old Georgia woman after husband found beheaded in lakeside home: police

BY Sasha Goldstein
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 8, 2014, 6:10 PM

The couple has lived in the community since 1994, and Russell Dermond at one time owned several fast food restaurants. The Dermonds had been married for 68 years, had three adult children and several grandchildren, and were churchgoing people beloved in the community, Rev. David Key told CNN.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...-beheaded-rural-home-police-article-1.1785071

Putnam coroner: victim was beheaded

Anita Oh 2:25 p.m. EDT May 9, 2014

The sheriff says Russell Dermond's death in his $1 million lakefront home was targeted and not a random crime. And Sheriff Howard Sills says they're investigating whether the killer entered from the lake. "Absolutely it's possible," said Sills. "This is a huge lake, it spans four counties and entry could've been made by the lake."
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/lo...utnam-sheriff-sills-murder-interview/8816001/

bessie · May 16, 2014

Autopsy Shows Man Was Dead When His Head Was Cut Off

Posted: Fri 11:02 AM, May 09, 2014

ATLANTA (AP) -- Authorities say an autopsy showed an 88-year-old man was already dead when his head was cut off.

Putnam County Deputy Coroner Marcus Turner says authorities believe Russell Dermond died of a head or brain injury. Friends found his body Tuesday at his Lake Oconee home.

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/258463991.html

Victim's son: Putnam murder 'makes no sense'

Bradley Dermond, the couple's son, described his parents Wednesday morning as "salt of the Earth."

"This absolutely makes no sense at all," Bradley Dermond told 13WMAZ Wednesday morning while driving up from Florida to be briefed by law enforcement about the case.

http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/local/hancock/2014/05/06/putnam-man-killed-wife-missing/8785833/

VIDEO AT THE LINK

FBI asked to help in search for missing Ga. woman

By The Associated Press
Posted: Thursday, May 8th 2014 at 7:44am

Sills said Shirley Dermond's wallet, cellphone, purse and car were all left behind. That makes it difficult to track here whereabouts, he added.

``There is nothing out of place. Everything is immaculate,'' Stills told The Telegraph newspaper of Macon. ``This is the cleanest house I've ever been in.''

http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=274686

Son of slain Putnam father, missing mother: ‘They didn’t deserve this’

By JOE KOVAC JR. and LIZ FABIAN
Telegraph staff May 9, 2014

EATONTON — It was the late 1980s and Russell Dermond, a meticulous World War II-era Navy man and college honor grad, wanted to leave something for his children.

So at 58 he retired after spending much of his career with a company that owned clock brands Westclox and Seth Thomas and went into the fast-food business. Before long he would oversee a chain of 16 Hardee’s restaurants that ringed metropolitan Atlanta.

“There’s no doubt he did it for his kids,” his son, Keith Dermond, told The Telegraph on Friday.
[...]
“He was such a family man. He was just devoted to his family,” Keith Dermond said. “He was a very hard worker, just a self-made man.”

His wife, educated at Barnard College in New York City, looked after their three sons and daughter in New Jersey.

“There’s nobody who met her that didn’t love her,” the son said, adding, “and she never gossiped.”

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2014/05/09/3089222/autopsy-sheds-little-light-on.html?sp=/99/148/#storylink=cpy

Dermond killer wasn’t local, Putnam residents believe
Russell Dermond, 88, Found Beheaded; Wife Shirley Dermond Missing: Report

AP | by JEFF MARTIN and PHILLIP LUCAS
Posted: 05/08/2014 5:34 pm EDT Updated: 05/08/2014 6:59 pm EDT

"We looked in the woods adjacent to the house, we looked in the lake," Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said during a news conference. "Her pocketbook and things like that are there, her cellphone is there, the car is there — we don't have anything to track."

Sills said the couple's lakefront home showed no signs of a struggle or forced entry and no ransom note was left behind.
[...]
"The best we can determine from all sources is that this was a perfect marriage," he said. "There's nothing that we have found out so far that looks askance or gives us any particular motive."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...d-dead-shirley-dermond-missing_n_5290989.html

Putnam residents don’t think Dermond killer was local

By WAYNE CRENSHAW
May 10, 2014

EATONTON -- When an especially heinous crime happens in a small community and no one has been arrested, it might be expected that residents would be a little on edge. But people interviewed in downtown Eatonton on Saturday didn’t seem concerned that a crazed killer could be living among them.

Sheriff’s deputies found the headless body of Russell Dermond, 88, in his garage Tuesday. His wife, Shirley Dermond, 87, remains missing.

http://www.macon.com/2014/05/10/3091430/dermond-killer-wasnt-local-putnam.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

Billboards of missing elderly woman now up in metro Atlanta

Posted: 4:50 a.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2014
By Sandra Parrish

Atlanta — Billboards are popping up around the entire state including metro Atlanta urging anyone with information on a missing Eatonton woman to call authorities.
[...]
He says the effort is in conjunction with the FBI which uses dedicated billboard space for emergency messages. Poe says the message about Dermond will remain up until the federal agency says otherwise.

http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/s...issing-elderly-woman-now-metro-atlanta/nftzp/

New search coming in Putnam slaying

By JOE KOVAC JR.
jkovac@macon.com May 13, 2014

The sheriff said investigators were running down “lead after lead.”

“The psychics are calling, the idiots are calling,” Sills added. “Unfortunately we’ll have one legitimate call and there are eight idiots that call. ... We still desperately need that call that will break this case open.”

On Tuesday, crews in boats using sonar devices searched the lake around the couple’s dock and others near it.

“Do I have any particular reason to look up under those docks? No. ... It’s more of an elimination thing,” Sills said.

Wednesday’s land search of what looks to center on more than a square quarter-mile of trees and brush will be more due diligence than anything.

“No different than the lake,” the sheriff said. “I have no reason to think there is anything over there.”

http://www.macon.com/2014/05/13/3096235/new-search-coming-in-putnam-slaying.html

bessie · May 16, 2014

Search for missing woman moves to vacant lots

Posted: May 14, 2014 5:50 AM CST Updated: May 14, 2014 5:50 AM CST

Searchers have also been using sonar equipment to look under the water in Lake Oconee, and billboard messages around the state have been displaying Shirley Dermond's photo in hopes of generating leads.

Decapitation mystery: Sheriff rules out mob hit

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 10:03 AM

“I’m running down one thing after another and coming up empty,” Sills said Tuesday.

Speculation abounds on social media, including a false report that a elderly woman who turned up dazed and confused Monday at a Tampa hospital was Shirley Dermond.

[...]

“No, the man wasn’t in witness protection,” he said. “He wasn’t going to testify. There’s no evidence of any kind of torture.”

Investigators believe Russell Dermond’s head, yet to be recovered, was severed after he was killed.

Understanding the incomprehensible

The Eatonton Messenger
Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014 12:00 am

The sheriff emphasizes he would not hesitate to lie, or withhold information, if it could reasonably lead to a resolution of the case. But, he says bluntly, that is not the case here.

We should not expect the sheriff to tell us everything he knows or every avenue that is being investigated. That is not the way to solve cases. It would be better for the sheriff’s office, and for all of us, if the intense focus, and resulting cascade of rumors dwindled. But that is like saying human nature should change.

Candlelight service remembers Dermonds, community

The Eatonton Messenger
Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014 12:45 am
Ron Bridgeman

“We come to light a candle to disperse the darkness that has come into our community.”

That was just one of the expressions of hurt, anger, bewilderment and determination expressed Saturday night at a candlelight service held next to the pond at Lake Oconee Village.

FBI posts reward for missing wife of beheaded man

By Eliott C. McLaughlin and Catherine Shoichet, CNN
updated 8:11 AM EDT, Thu May 15, 2014

(CNN) -- The FBI is offering a reward in its search for the wife of an 88-year-old Georgia man who was found decapitated.

It will pay "up to $20,000 for information leading to the location of Shirley Wilcox Dermond and/or the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for her disappearance," Special Agent Stephen Emmett of the FBI's Atlanta office said Wednesday.

"I don't think it's a random incident. I think for whatever reason these people were singled out for this," Sills said. "They live in the most exclusive neighborhood, or one of the most exclusive neighborhoods, in this county. ... They're on a cul-de-sac in a gated, multimillion-dollar resort community that we have no crime in."

bessie · May 16, 2014

Decapitation mystery: Security camera wasn't on, son tells AJC

By Christian Boone
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Friday, May 16, 2014 11:00 AM

“They had a security system. And they always kept their doors locked,” Dermond said. “They were religious about that.”

Dermond also revealed that cameras manning the gates at Reynolds Plantation weren’t functioning at the time.
[...]
The family’s only previous brush with violence came in 2000, when the couple’s oldest son, Mark Dermond, was killed while trying to buy crack cocaine in Atlanta. Neither Keith Dermond or investigators believe there’s any connection.

“It was so long ago. My parents didn’t even attend the trial” of Mark Dermond’s killer, his brother said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Nothing does.

Decapitation mystery | Russell Dermond was World War II vet, golfer

Posted: 10:28 a.m. Friday, May 16, 2014
By Rodney Thrash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Russell Dermond was a United States Navy veteran from Hackensack, N.J., who served in World War II. He loved golf, books, walks and time spent with family and friends. He was a member of Oconee Community Church.

http://www.williamsfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Russell-Dermond/#!/Obituary

Sills says ... Putnam’s sheriff speaking plainly

Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014 12:40 am
The Eatonton Messenger
Karen Bridgeman

A press conference May 8, the only such session Sills has had, lasted about 20 minutes – and is the source of many of the postings on a wide range of topics:

“We have to assume – or at least pray – that Mrs. Dermond is still alive,” Sills said.

“We certainly hope she’s still alive, but I’m not very optimistic, simply because of her husband.”

“We don’t have a point to look for Mrs. Dermond. Her pocketbook and things like that are (at the home), her cell phone is there, her car is there.”

Residents question decision not to call GBI for help in Putnam Co. beheading

Posted: 5:29 p.m. Thursday, May 15, 2014

Sheriff Sills said his department has not found many clues to the crime or to Shirley Dermond’s whereabouts, but he said he is not prepared to call the GBI for help, instead relying on his own 40 years in law enforcement.

“If you can tell me something the GBI knows how to do that I don’t know how to do then I will be glad and call them,” Sills said.
[...]
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has not investigated a homicide in a decade.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 706-485-8557.

Putnam Co. officials continue search for Shirley Dermond

Michael King, WXIA 7:51 p.m. EDT May 14, 2014

About five or six acres of the Reynolds Plantation neighborhood near the Dermond home was thoroughly searched on Wednesday by about 60 or 70 sheriff's deputies from several area counties, along with 10 FBI agents. They did not find anything in their search.

Officials said that based on their investigation, they have been able to narrow the time-frame of the crime to somewhere between 4:30 p.m., on Friday, May 2 – when the mail was delivered – to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, when the couple did not show up for a party.

Sills debunked several rumors that have surfaced in social media – including a note that there is no evidence of mob ties or ties to a witness protection program. He said that there was no connection with the drug-related murder of the Dermond's son in Atlanta 14 years ago.

bessie · May 17, 2014

Missing wife of decapitated Georgia man found dead in lake

By Chelsea J. Carter and AnneClaire Stapleton, CNN
updated 10:54 PM EDT, Fri May 16, 2014

Shirley Dermond's body was found in Lake Oconee, south of Athens, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told reporters Friday.

"We now, unfortunately, know that Shirley Dermond was murdered," Sills said. Sills declined to discuss the condition of the body other than to say, "the head was not removed or anything like that.

"We haven't even had a funeral for Russell because their kids wanted to wait. Now that we know about Shirley, we will start planning the funeral services for both.

Missing Putnam County woman's body found in Lake Oconee

11Alive Staff, WXIA
11:03 p.m. EDT May 16, 2014

Sources tell 11Alive that two fishermen discovered the body near a dam at Lake Oconee on Friday afternoon.
"While we were riding towards the place I was going to go fishing, I noticed something that looked strange -- out of the ordinary -- so we approached it," said fisherman Dennis Higgs. "When we got close enough to see what it might be -- we thought it might be a buoy or something like that -- when we got closer to it, we realized it was more than a buoy. It was something else, so we backed off from it. I think at 2:24, I called 9-1-1."

Sheriff's officials confirmed that the body found was Shirley Dermond's.

Investigators find body of Shirley Dermond on Lake Oconee

Updated: 10:21 p.m. Friday, May 16, 2014 | Posted: 5:15 p.m. Friday, May 16, 2014

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. —The Putnam County Sheriff confirms to Channel 2 Action News that a body pulled from Lake Oconee late Friday afternoon is likely that of Shirley Dermond.

Dermond disappeared two weeks ago after her husband, Russell Dermond, 88, was found decapitated at the couple’s home on Lake Oconee.

Sheriff: ‘Now we know Shirley Dermond was murdered’

Updated: 7:29 p.m. Friday, May 16, 2014 | Posted: 5:22 p.m. Friday, May 16, 2014
By Christian Boone and Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told reporters Friday he is “fairly confident” a body pulled from Lake Oconee Friday afternoon was that of Shirley Dermond, missing for two weeks.

bessie · May 18, 2014

Coroner: Shirley Dermond died from blunt force trauma

Cody Rhodes 6 p.m. EDT May 17, 2014
13WMAZ

Putnam coroner Gary McElhenney told 13WMAZ Saturday that the autopsy performed by the GBI medical examiner concluded the elderly woman died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Sheriff: Shirley Dermond died of blunt force trauma to the head

Updated: 2:38 p.m. Saturday, May 17, 2014 | Posted: 11:56 a.m.
By Christian Boone and Rodney Thrash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

UPDATE: Shirley Dermond, the 87-year-old Eatonton woman whose body was pulled from Lake Oconee Friday afternoon, died of blunt force trauma to the head, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She did not drown and she was not alive when she was put in the water, he said.

Motive in Lake Oconee killings may be something crazy

By JOE KOVAC JR.
May 17, 2014 Updated 26 minutes ago
The Telegraph, Macon

Keith Dermond, 55, said investigators have referred to his parents killings as a targeted crime.

Weve had two weeks almost to think about all this and just cannot come up with anything that sounds logical, he said.

Especially with nothing of any value taken. There wasnt a robbery of any kind. I just think it was a random thing, or if it was targeted they hit the wrong house, or something crazy like that.

He couldnt imagine why anyone would want to harm his folks, who ran an Atlanta-area chain of Hardees restaurants until they retired 20 years ago.

He said, I just dont understand it at all.

bessie · May 20, 2014

Investigators track new leads in Lake Oconee killings

By LIZ FABIAN
May 20, 2014

In the days following the discovery of Shirley Dermond’s body Friday in Lake Oconee, investigators are honing in on the water.

But Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said surveillance videos from around the lake might not provide the clues he needs to find the person who clobbered the 87-year-old woman in the head and identify the murder weapon, which was not a knife or gun.

“I’m virtually certain that it would be a miracle if any of those cameras displayed a boat’s identification number,” Sills said.

Coroner: Wife of decapitated Georgia man was killed, dumped in lake

Posted: May 19, 2014 9:49 AM CST
By CNN Newswire
By Chelsea J. Carter and Carma Hassan

ATLANTA (CNN) -- An 87-year-old Georgia woman, who was found dead in Lake Oconee 10 days after the discovery of her husband's headless body, appears to have been killed before being dumped in the lake. It's the latest twist in a grisly case that has baffled authorities.

Shirley Dermond did not drown but rather died from a "blunt impact injury to the head," Putnam County Coroner Gary McElhenney said Saturday.

The coroner's finding came a day after authorities pulled Dermond's body from the lake about 80 miles east of Atlanta.

Lake Oconee search on hold today

WMAZ 3:51 p.m. EDT May 19, 2014

Richard Tanner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources says his teams searched the lake from Friday night through last night for evidence in the deaths of Russell and Shirley Dermond. He said they did not find any new clues.

A fisherman found Shirley Dermond's body. Tanner says they searched a 6- to 8-mile stretch between the Dermond's lakeside home and the dam where she was found.

Tanner says he'll talk to Sills about where they'll look next.

bessie · May 21, 2014

Investigation continues in Putnam Co. murder case

Posted: May 20, 2014 9:31 PM CST Updated: May 20, 2014 9:43 PM CST
By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF

Investigators confirm on Sunday more than 215 people who live in the Dermond's neighborhood answered questions from the deputies and the FBI.

Neighbors tell FOX 5 they answered about 30 questions, ranging from where they were on certain dates, to whether they had home surveillance video that could help investigators. According to Sheriff Howard Sills, the meeting was also meant to catch up with residents who may not live there full-time.

Read more: http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/2...tinues-in-putnam-co-murder-case#ixzz32LzmF85N

Murdered elderly couple -- Sheriff says Dermonds likely knew killers

Posted: 5:37 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, 2014
By Christian Boone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The sheriff leading the investigation into the gruesome slayings of an elderly Eatonton couple said he believes the victims knew their killers.

“They were at least minimally acquainted with whoever did this,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. “That’s an assumption, coupled with some physical evidence.”

[Suspects]
“I’ve put a lot of people in my scope, but none in the cross hairs,” Sills said.

[The three children]
“I’ve never eliminated them,” he said, though he cautioned there’s no evidence linking them to the slayings.

[Cult]
“If that was the case, they’d want us to know,” he said.

["Professional assassin"]
“For everything that looks professional, there’s something that isn’t,” Sills said. “This is not the work of some drug-crazed individuals, and this is not some professional assassin.”

“I’ve looked at every check he’s written the last 10 years, every credit card receipt, and there’s nothing that looks out of the ordinary or unusual,” Sills said.

bessie · May 25, 2014

Sills: Dermond killers came by boat

WMAZ 5:01 p.m. EDT May 24, 2014

[...]

Sills discussed the case in detail with Anita Oh, saying:

--Finding Shirley Dermond's body in the lake has convinced him that the couple's killers arrived at their home over the water: "Somebody came by boat for a fact."
And while Sills' investigators have scoured the Great Waters neighborhood for security cameras pointed toward the lake, they haven't found an image of the killers or anything else unusual.

[snips]

--"Could 1 person do it? Sure, but the circumstances and evidences lead me to believe it was a minimum of 2 people."

--There is "definitely no doubt about it" that Russell Dermond's head was cut off and Shirley's body dumped was to "conceal evidence, buy time and obstruct roadblocks in our investigation. Does it show depravity? Yes, but it was for self-preservation of whoever done it.."

--"This does not mean it's organized crime. There's no evidence of that. No Mafia or cartel..."

--"A brutal evil savage of some sort."

Sills says DNR and sheriff's deputies will be on the water this holiday weekend, but not actively searching.

*If you have trouble opening TheTelegraph link, press the ESCAPE key while the page is loading.

Dermond slayings expected to effect Memorial weekend on Lake Oconee

By LIZ FABIAN, The Telegraph
May 24, 2014

DNR crews began searching the lake soon after the first body was found, and although they suspended regular searches for other evidence earlier this week, the rangers are still thinking about the case.

“We’ll be on the lake patrolling all weekend,” Padgett said. “We’ll ride through there to see if anything would surface.”

Sills realizes most of those out enjoying the lake also will be mindful of what happened and will be on the lookout for anything unusual.

“I hate to be graphic, or sound crude, but we’re still looking for Mr. Dermond’s head,” Sills said. “If that’s seen out there, or something like that is seen, we need to know.”

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2014/05/24/3113748/dermond-slayings-expected-to-effect.html#storylink=cpy

bessie · May 25, 2014

*If you have trouble opening The Telegraph link, press the ESCAPE key while the page is loading.

Sheriff: ‘Brutal savage’ probably targeted elderly Lake Oconee couple

By LIZ FABIAN and JOE KOVAC JR., Telegraph staff
May 22, 2014

[...]

Sills said he has been working such long hours that at times he has lost track of days.

A hometown boy, he likened the probe’s plodding nature to “plowing hard ground at Rockville with a dull point and a slow mule.”

Even so, he said, “there are things that we’ve found out that I can’t elaborate on.”

[...]

Sills has narrowed the timeline to a 24-hour window between that Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. Russell Dermond, his head severed, was found dead in his Carolyn Drive garage on the morning of May 6 when concerned neighbors went to his house. The 88-year-old’s head has not been found. His manner of death is unknown.

[...]

The decapitation also factors in to make Sills think at least two assailants took part.

“That takes a little effort to do that. Even if the (dead) person’s not alive. And then we have Mrs. Dermond’s body in the lake five miles away,” the sheriff said.

[...]

Sills would not discuss specifics of what investigators have learned as they have combed the Dermonds’ financial records and background to sniff out potential motives.

But, he added, “it’s nothing random” as best he can tell for now.

Asked what kind of person or people may be responsible for the killings, Sills said, “I would say it was a particularly brutal savage that did this. Whether he did it as a result of self-preservation or he did it as a result of just pure meanness, it takes a certain level of depravity to throw an 87-year-old woman in the lake and cut off the head of an 88-year-old man.”

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2014/05/22/311...probably.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Son of murdered Putnam Co. couple said case [sic] turned over

Posted: 4:35 p.m. Thursday, May 22, 2014

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga — The son of the murdered Putnam County couple confirmed investigators finished their search of his parents' home and have turned it back over to the family.

[...]

"We appreciate all the support and ask for your continued prayers," said Dermond.

bessie · Jun 5, 2014

Reward offered in Georgia beheading case

By Crimesider Staff CBS/AP
June 4, 2014, 11:32 AM

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said in a statement that the president of a Lake Oconee resort is offering $30,000 for information leading to the suspects involved in the death of 88-year-old Russell Dermond and his 87-year-old wife Shirley.

[...]

Sills previously told the paper he believes the Dermonds "were at least minimally acquainted" with their killers and that he is certain the killers accessed the couple's property by water. He also reportedly said that both he and FBI profilers who have examined the case believe at least two people were involved in the crime - which is believed to have taken place May 2 or May 3.

Sheriff asks public to add to reward in Dermond case

13WMAZ 8:53 p.m. EDT June 3, 2014

Now, Sills said, "we have reached a point, some thirty days after these heinous crimes, where I believe a significant monetary reward may well be the thing that will enable us break this very difficult case."

He said he has set up an account for a reward fund at The People's Bank. He said contributions would be tax-deductible.

EXCLUSIVE: Sheriff says Reynolds Plantation couple killed with different weapons

Posted: 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told Winne that he has evidence indicating the killer used two different weapons during last month’s slayings. Sills says physical evidence points to a strong likelihood that the Dermonds died in different ways and that the killer, or killers, used a different kind of weapon to kill 88-year-old Russell Dermond than to kill 87-year-old Shirley Dermond.

“I don’t believe they were killed with the same weapon, no,” said Sills. “I won’t elaborate on what the murder weapons were.”

[...]

“This is a very difficult case, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have forensic evidence. We’re running down leads today,” said Sills. “We’ve got fingerprints, we’ve got hairs, we’ve got fibers, we’ve got all matter of forensic evidence that we’ve collected from the house.”

Sills said they’ve also collected several other items of significance to the case that he can’t talk about.

"What's in my heart is finding out who killed these people,” said Sills

Reward fund established in death of elderly Eatonton couple

by Christian Boone
Posted: 7:51 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Video footage from surveillance cameras on and off Lake Oconee captured between May 2 and 3 — when the slayings occurred — has been sent to the FBI for further examination.

The reward fund was set up through The Peoples Bank, and anyone wishing to contribute can do so at any of the bank’s branch offices.

Mickie Mouse · Jun 13, 2014

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/ga-couples-killing-leaves-authorities-baffled

1&2&3 · Jun 18, 2014

As tonight closes, we go to bed with no answers, no new leads, and just hope ssomegood news comes Jup in the morning. A new line has to pop up, just give it time!!

tomkat · Jun 19, 2014

http://www.msgr.com/news/local_news/article_35c40320-f72e-11e3-af64-001a4bcf887a.html

more dead ends, still more phone records to view with court order, which will bring more court orders for other phone records says Sills

Backwoods · Jun 25, 2014

Macon television station 13WMAZ has a special section of its web site where much of its coverage of the Dermond case is archived:

http://www.13wmaz.com/topic/586e6d09-f490-4867-8dfb-602d1d24e428/dermond-case/

bessie · Nov 16, 2014

A Lake without Leads: Putnam Co. murders remain a mystery
Catherine Beck, WXIA 12:14 a.m. EST November 11, 2014

[...]

Everyone who has been interviewed has been cleared. There's still no suspect. But Sills believes it was planned, pre-meditated and gruesome.

Russell Dermond was killed and then beheaded, left on the cement floor of his garage. Shirley was killed by blunt force trauma to the head, before being weighted down and dropped in the lake.

"You can't make me believe there was any kind of randomness to this crime," Sills said.

Bootsctr · Aug 7, 2017

Decapitation Mystery still consumes Georgia Sheriff

http://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/...sumes-georgia-sheriff/mT5Ct0txjkhUaQJLxb4PQJ/

Big shout out to the mods here at Websleuths!

Bootsctr · May 11, 2018

Inside Edition interview with Sheriff Sills on May 9, 2018

[video=youtube;T1JFsS01BHk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1JFsS01BHk[/video]

Transcription of interview Part 1:

THE SHERIFF AND THE UNSOLVED MURDERS ON LAKE OCONEE

Sheriff Sills: It is the most frustrating case of my career. It truly bothers me. These people certainly weren't deserving that. In fact, nobody deserves that, especially at that stage in life. It is certainly the biggest murder investigation in my 44 year career.

Inside Edition: Why would someone decapitate Russell Dermond?

41WGMT: A Putnam county man was found decapitated in his million dollar home. An 88-year-old retired man living out his golden years with his wife in a beautiful lake community in Georgia. His wife was found days later floating in Lake Oconee. Authorities still don't know why it happened, or who did it.

SS: You think I'm frustrated to the point of giving up or something like that, that damn sure isn't the case. But, what worries me the most is whoever did this is still out there, and anybody who will do this, will do it again, if they didn't do it before.

SS: I'm Howard Sills. I'm the sheriff of Putnam county. Mr. Dermond was 88 and his wife, Shirley, was 87. They were retired for over a decade living there in that home. They didn't show up for a Kentucky Derby Party they were supposed to show up for. After a couple of days, their friends had called them, friends that lived in the same area. They finally went over to the house to see about them. The house wasn't locked, walked in the house, walked all through the house, and couldn't find them anywhere. Eventually, the man of the couple went into the garage, walked down into the garage itself, and discovered Mr. Dermond's body minus its head lying on the floor of the garage. He had been decapitated. It was a post-mortem decapitation. He was already dead, of course, when this occurred. Mrs. Dermond was nowhere to be found.

Russell Dermond's body was discovered May 6, 2014. His head has never been found.

SS: We didn't know where Mrs. Dermond was. There was no evidence of forced entry. There was no evidence of any struggle. Approximately ten days later, Mrs. Dermond's body surfaced in Lake Oconee about six miles away from their home. She had died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma to the head and her body had been weighted down with two cement blocks.

Shirley Dermond's body was discovered May 16, 2014.

https://www.insideedition.com/murde...-shirley-dermond-beheading-and-no-leads-42984

Bootsctr · May 11, 2018

Part 2:

SS: (Looking at photos on his computer) See this is the house right here. We pulled up and Mr. Dermond's right behind these two (garage) doors right here. I mean that was taken the day. I took that photograph the day. This is where you pull into the driveway and they placed these towels here to keep that blood and fluid from running out of that door (cursor is on the left-side garage door). As far as suspects, we still don't have any suspects. Maintenance workers, yard workers, and people like that, their children, their adult children, we found out where they were at the time. We polygraphed them, and then we interviewed hundreds of people. We simultaneously, my detectives along with the FBI and detectives from other sheriff offices interviewed over 200 people one day. Certainly, I have never done anything like that before. The Dermonds were not controversial at all. They lived a very sedentary life. They went to church. Mrs. Dermond played bridge at the local bridge club. He had stopped playing golf. He walked on a routine basis. Other than that, I have got every canceled check they have written for the last eight years, their credit card records, everything. There is no reason that we can determine why anybody would have ill feelings for them at all. Actually, to the contrary of that, we know of nothing that was disturbed in the home. We know of nothing of any great value that was taken. There was no evidence of a struggle and quite candidly we can't really say that the murders occurred there. We think he was shot in the head because we developed some gunshot residue on his shirt that he was wearing.

SS: (Driving through Reynolds Plantation) One of the most exclusive communities in the entire state of Georgia, if not the nation. These are gated golf communities with beautiful homes, beautifully landscaped grounds. It's not the only thing like that we have in Putnam county, but it is certainly the most prominent. But, in this particular neighborhood, we had no crime other than a few cases where somebody took something out of somebody's car, or you know something like that. We don't have any incidents at all. We have alarm calls and things like that, but they are always false alarms.

SS: (pulling up to the Dermond's home) That's the Dermond's house there, but like I said, there are new people living there. We had had a storm. When you walked into the guard shack, as I call it, the monitors are there and you can see the cameras are working. You know what I'm talking about. But, we had a storm about two weeks earlier and it wasn't recording. It hadn't recorded since that storm, but if it was somebody who was supposed to have been there, you know, it wouldn't have mattered. Security is a lot tighter now since this happened than it was at the time, but if they came by boat, who knows. It could have been anybody from anywhere. I think the matter of Mr. Dermond's head being removed had nothing. The body was not positioned in any ritualistic manner. At some time, I didn't totally discount that she might not have done it. Don't get me wrong. She was 87-years-old, but I can't tell you that I didn't have to take that into consideration because where was she? They were married forever and there was never any evidence of marital discord or anything like that, but I did begin to wonder, you know, maybe she had been a part of it in some way. Of course, that totally dissolved when we found her body.

SS: (back at the sheriff's office reading a letter): "I am writing to you about the murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond. They were crimes of passion and committed by at least two people. You should not rule out people in law enforcement or people living near the couple." We get letters. We get e-mails. We get phone calls from people, but then you have things where, you know, you have psychics call. You have people that call with just utter foolishness.

(Looking at another letter) This is a person who said they weren't a psychic, but they had certain revelations that they thought they had and that they wanted to tell us that water had played a role in the case. It's just we have literally hundreds of letters like this, or e-mails, or you know things of that nature. Somebody knows what happened here and there is more than one person involved in this case, and what we need is that phone call.

Anyone with information about the murders can reach the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 706-485-8557.

Inside Edition: When are you planning to retire?

SS: Me?

Inside Edition: Yeah.

SS: Never.

Inside Edition: Is this case a thing that you are dedicated to finishing in your career?

SS: Oh sure. This is a case I'm dedicated to finishing this week if I could get the opportunity to do it, but I have no intentions of retiring any time soon. A good looking guy like me, a picture of youth, where would I go? Why would I retire?

https://www.insideedition.com/murde...-shirley-dermond-beheading-and-no-leads-42984

Bootsctr · May 11, 2018

GONE COLD | The murders at Lake Oconee: 4 years later, elderly couple’s son opens up

Author: Jessica Noll
Published: 12:20 PM EDT May 3, 2018
Updated: 6:52 PM EDT May 9, 2018

SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. – Brad Dermond flips through albums and shuffles through a handful of photographs—remembering family road trips, golfing and how much his parents loved him and his siblings and adored their grandchildren.

But the memories are bittersweet, because that is all that remains. That, and unanswered questions.

[video=youtube;GueYVL7_TpM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GueYVL7_TpM[/video]

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