Imo this case would’ve been solved long ago had it not been for Sheriff Howard R. Sills and his stubborn refusal to involve the FBI and the GBI (whom he hates) early in the case. He sometimes reminds me of Buford T. Justice - only more self important and more belligerent. As Andy Griffith said in one episode: “Call the man Aunt Bee, just call the man!”
An incident unfolded at the home of Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills on Saturday afternoon that led to a gunshot being fired before two men were arrested on various
www.unionrecorder.com
And, from
Russell and Shirley Dermond were supposed to attend a Kentucky Derby Party on May 3, 2014, at a neighbor’s home. They never showed up. Three days passed with no excuse, no apology, and no signs of activity at the Dermond home.
www.fox5atlanta.com
“What we really need more than anything is for someone to call us up and tell us who is responsible for this savagery.”
Okay.
And, what serious LE officer would ever pose for photos like the ones in this article:
In Putnam County, GA, everybody knows Sheriff Howard Sills, and Sills knows everybody—except who murdered an elderly couple on Lake Oconee last May.
www.atlantamagazine.com
Is he trying to scare the bad guys?
Then:
It’s been 10 long years since the brutal slayings of Russell and Shirley Dermond at their million-dollar home in Great Waters, a plush gated community at Reynolds of Lake Oconee
www.unionrecorder.com
So, after ten years, Sheriff Howard R. Sills finally discovers that there are DNA labs out there like Othram in Houston, TX (“It’s actually in The Woodlands, as they call it.”) that might be able to help. “I sat down with their people… And they found DNA”.
The article continues: ‘Additional STR testing, which is a COMMON (my caps) type of DNA profiling used in criminal cases, was required.’
Sills: “And only the FBI or a company they partner with […] could do it.” Wow. Just wish Howard had known about that several years ago.
For the first few years, this case received extensive local, state, and national media coverage. Extensive. It did not go unsolved because nobody had ever heard of it, because everybody had. It was (and still should be) a big deal. Imo the fact that it faded and became almost a cold case after just 3–4 years is directly related to lack of progress made in the investigation by the Eatonton County Sheriff’s Office.
I hope the DNA that Othram and Sorenson found comes back and provides the clue needed to solve the case. Russell and Shirley Dermond deserve Justice.
I just have little faith that the crime will ultimately be solved by the same man who went back into his house from raking leaves in his front yard in order to grab a .38 pistol so he could (only if necessary!) shoot out the front tire of a pick up truck parked in his driveway in order to prevent two notorious pine straw solicitors from making a clean getaway (then insisting of course that it was not an officer-involved shooting, and that the two perps would only be given citations; nothing to see here)
As I myself have sadly discovered over the past dozen years or so, this truly IS no country for old men.
Jmo