GA GA - Shirley, 87, & Russell Dermond, 88, Putnam County, 2 May 2014 - # 1

[popsicle]

Shirley has a case on the missing forum:

GA GA - Shirley Dermond (Abduction), 87, Putnam County, 2 - 4 May 2014 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[Steleheart]

Beheading an 88 year old man is very personal - represents a high level of hatred and not some random act.
Nothing stolen, “No evidence of forced entry or struggle or things like that.” “There is nothing out of place,” Sills told The Telegraph. “Everything is immaculate. This is the cleanest house I’ve ever been in.”

“The evidence is not consistent with something an 87-year-old woman would do.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/lake-o...fqqR/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_homepage

IMO Mr. Dermond was the main target. It takes some effort to behead a person - if he was simply in the way of abducting Mrs. Dermond he would have just been killed. I think this was planned hateful and deliberate toward both of them, Kill him, take her and the head and further torment her elsewhere? Obviously it wasn't her money they were after.

MOO

 

[Jane Jetson]

Beware...Gruesome!

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/lake-o...fqqR/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_homepage

Thanks for posting that. I think it's odd that there was no mention about the gruesomeness of it. Just the sheriff saying it was the cleanest house he'd ever seen.

 

[Jane Jetson]

Thanks for posting that. I think it's odd that there was no mention about the gruesomeness of it. Just the sheriff saying it was the cleanest house he'd ever seen.

Do you ever wonder if some of the news is just made up out of whole cloth?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Shirley has a case on the missing forum:

GA GA - Shirley Dermond (Abduction), 87, Putnam County, 2 - 4 May 2014 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Thank you.

Is there another one in the Crime Forums about Mr. Dermond's murder? This case is both types of forums since her husband has been murdered and she is missing. I also read that the perps took his head with them.



Putnam County's Coroner Gary P. McElhenney confirmed that the 88-year-old man killed in an apparent homicide-abduction was beheaded, but couldn't give any further details.

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."

Putnam investigators are trying to find out who killed Russell Dermond and apparently abducted his wife, Shirley. Dermond was found dead in his garage Tuesday morning.

Wednesday night, Sheriff Sills refuted rumors that Shirley Dermond's body had been found.

http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/lo...utnam-sheriff-sills-murder-interview/8816001/

 

[Cherry]

I know this is an awful thought but one that has to be explored: how do we know there wasn't some issue and the wife is the one who killed him? In any crime you work from the inside OUT. What was their relationship really like...where are her friends...why the silence in this case? Did they drive do they hv a car, is her car missing? I have so many questions do to the lack of info in this case. Esp as to who saw them last. Was anyone working on their home? Questions like this.

 

[Leilei]

I'm in Georgia, and had seen her missing info on my FB feed, and shared it. I did NOT know that the poor man had been beheaded until I read here. Sickened and shocked, and I unfortunately don't see a good outcome for Shirley. I would like to be surprised and have her found safely, but with what happened to her husband...

Why??? This doesn't sound like a hit to me. It's personal.

 

[Hickory Born]

Thanks for posting that. I think it's odd that there was no mention about the gruesomeness of it. Just the sheriff saying it was the cleanest house he'd ever seen.

The sheriff's statement was weird. DUH what is significant with a house being "immaculate". All he had to say was the house was not ransacked and nothing was out of place. I would guess that most people in their late 80s cannot keep a big house spotless unless they have lots of helpers. Had the cleaning help been there that day?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I know this is an awful thought but one that has to be explored: how do we know there wasn't some issue and the wife is the one who killed him? In any crime you work from the inside OUT. What was their relationship really like...where are her friends...why the silence in this case? Did they drive do they hv a car, is her car missing? I have so many questions do to the lack of info in this case. Esp as to who saw them last. Was anyone working on their home? Questions like this.

I think the moral to this story will be that crime can occur anywhere at anytime even to the most unsuspecting defenseless victims in what is known as a very safe community.

It reminds me very much of another case I kept up with a few years back here on WS. In that case both the elderly man and woman were kidnapped from their home. I believe they too were in their 80s. I am trying to remember if they ever found their bodies. Iirc they did find the husband's remains and I think later on the Judge ruled that the woman was considered deceased as well. Maybe a kind poster will be able to clarify if both of their bodies were eventually found.

It turned out to be someone they had helped over the years and had given him odd jobs around their place. He did this in order to rob them and I do believe before he murdered them he made them take money out of their accounts.

I do not think any family member is involved in this crime. I got the impression that the siblings didn't live in that area. I think some of them live in NC and had to come down to their parents home.

I do not see a elderly woman having enough strength to decapitate a human head. So I don't think this poor woman is anything other than a victim...A victim that has probably also been murdered by now and may never be found.

I don't see either of these elderly people having enemies either that would do such a thing. It takes a lot of strength to cut someone heads off. I see the perps, and, I do think it is more than one, as being young maybe in their 20s or 30s and have will have a criminal past, most likely BE or home invasions.

It may be another case like the wealthy Husted Double Murders who were both murdered by a stranger who had been robbing places.

I hope that LE is checking in great detail if they recently had workers on the property. At their age they would need help tending to the lawn and possible maintenance and repairs done to their home recently.

I pray they find who did these unspeakable acts to the most defenseless among us. If not more are in danger of becoming their targets.

IMO

 

[ClaireNC]

To give the sheriff the benefit of the doubt, I think he was in a bit of a shock at the crime scene and didn't really know how to react. This is small town, things like this just don't happen there. (As a side note, my mother is 85 and her house is immaculately clean. She does not have hired help.)


Now, I'm going out on a stretch with a scenario. I think I've watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds.

Is there any way to research if there have been any attacks on elderly women in the area? Any rapes, kidnappings, break-ins or attempts at such things? Or a cluster of such things anyplace, not just locally?

Could it be a predator that preys on elderly women? Maybe she was the target and Russell just happened to get in the way. His head was taken as a trophy or as some sick way to control his prey.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Updated: Wed, 07 May 2014 06:47:24 EST

Friends and neighbors of Russell and Shirley Dermond told WGXA Wednesday they were shocked at news of the murder and suspected kidnapping in Putnam County.

Deputies responded to the luxury home of Russell and Shirley Dermond in the exclusive, gated Great Waters Community on Lake Oconee around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

They were called to the scene after friends of the Dermonds found what Sheriff Howard Sills says they "are virtually certain" was the body of 88-year-old Russell. Sheriff Sills tells WGXA, "Mr. Dermond was definitely the victim of a homicide." WGXA confirmed Wednesday evening that Russell was found beheaded at the scene. His head has not been found.


Read more: http://www.wgxa.tv/story/man-murder...-lake-oconee-community-20140507#ixzz317xyYLVQ
WGXA-TV News That Works for You.
Follow us: @WGXAnews on Twitter | WGXA.tv on Facebook

 

[tomkat]

FBI asked to help

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/8/fbi-asked-to-help-in-search-for-missing-ga-woman/

and autopsy today

Do we think maybe she is dismembered somewhere and he didnt' get to finish him becuase interrupted in some way or scared off

Also, I know this is rumour, well I guess, has anyone heard they are from NJ and this is a mob hit, maybe head was proof? Someone saw info that maybe he was in a witness protection program

 

[oceanblueeyes]

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. —


Police in central Georgia are investigating the alleged murder of an elderly man and also searching for his wife, who they fear might have been abducted from the couple's lakeside home.

Putnam County authorities say they were called to the home of Russell and Shirley Dermond, in the Reynolds Plantation community on Lake Oconee, around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Sheriff Howard Sills said friends of the Dermonds who had gone to the house found a body believed to be that of 88-year-old Russell Dermond.

A law enforcement source told Channel 2 Action News that Dermond was beheaded and the head was not found at the crime scene.

Shirley Dermond, 87, was not at the home, and investigators believe she may have been abducted.


http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/putnam-detectives-fear-missing-87-year-old-was-kid/nfqnn/?lkk

 

[LunaticFringe]

This is a horrific story.Beheadings always are though aren't they?

I hope this isn't yet another case of a relative doing this.

Keep us informed Ocean.

 

[ClaireNC]

FBI asked to help

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/8/fbi-asked-to-help-in-search-for-missing-ga-woman/

and autopsy today

Do we think maybe she is dismembered somewhere and he didnt' get to finish him becuase interrupted in some way or scared off

Also, I know this is rumour, well I guess, has anyone heard they are from NJ and this is a mob hit, maybe head was proof? Someone saw info that maybe he was in a witness protection program

I did read in one of the earlier articles that they were from NJ. I am from NJ so that fact stuck in my brain and I also thought potential mob hit. It was stated that he owned fast food restaurants. Does anybody know if organized crime is common in that industry?

Edit to add - the bit about living in NJ is in this article: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/lake-oconee-man-killed-87-year-old-wife-possibly-k/nfqqR/

The couple has New Jersey roots and moved to Putnam County about 10 years ago, he told The Telegraph in Macon. Russell Dermond, the newspaper reported, owned several fast food restaurants before retiring.

 

[Love2Lope]

According to the news last night they believe whomever took her came up from the water. Accessing their dock.

 

[Annie1004]

What scares me is that the head will show up in a displayed manner in the near future. The brutality of this crime is too much to fathom with violence toward this targeted couple. In, out, done. No ransacking, money doesn't appear to be a motive, or other valuables missing. A very angry sick individual. And why take Shirley?

Do professional hits act like this? This was an elderly couple, for Heaven sakes. I thought guns were used in those instances (execution style). Whoever did this left a statement IMHO. But why?

 

[Hickory Born]

FBI asked to help

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/8/fbi-asked-to-help-in-search-for-missing-ga-woman/

and autopsy today

Do we think maybe she is dismembered somewhere and he didnt' get to finish him becuase interrupted in some way or scared off

Also, I know this is rumour, well I guess, has anyone heard they are from NJ and this is a mob hit, maybe head was proof? Someone saw info that maybe he was in a witness protection program

Doesn't make sense to me if he was in any witness protection program he would not be living on a huge lake with miles and miles of easy access to just anyone.

If murderer/murderers did approach house from lake,I would bet for sure Mrs. Dermond was dropped somewhere into Lake Oconee...dead or alive.

 

[Treelights]

According to the news last night they believe whomever took her came up from the water. Accessing there dock.

So far, the links I have found on the internet that have been updated today, May 8th, they are still investigating.
Hopefully there will be more of an update soon.

http://www.wbir.com/story/news/nati...tigate-man-beheaded-and-missing-wife/8848103/

"WXIA 11:30 a.m. EDT May 8, 2014"
"Sheriff Sills says they're investigating whether the killer entered from the lake."

http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/08/elderly-man-beheaded-wife-missing/8840037/
"Bernie O'Donnell , J. Harnevious and Anita Oh, WMAZ-TV, Macon, Ga. 8:24 a.m. EDT May 8, 2014"

"Sills says police are 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." "

 

[Treelights]

Could this be a son? If there is a connection, wonder if the killer in this case is still behind bars? He (the suspect) was found guilty but went through a series of appeals. Can't find anything documented since 2006. Took place in Atlanta.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-supreme-court/1185576.html

In this video, around the 2 minute 10 second mark, the reporter mentioned that the Dermonds had a 4th son that was murdered about ten years ago.
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/lake-oconee-man-killed-87-year-old-wife-possibly-k/nfqqR/