GA GA - Shirley, 87, & Russell Dermond, 88, Putnam County, 2 May 2014 - # 5

[Jabarn]

The thing that haunts me about these murders is the age of the folks killed.

Serial Killers usually don't go into homes and kill old folks.

These two in their late 80's probably shut down, except for the few activities they participated in like bridge or reading to a friend, ten years ago!

Who targets old people like that? And cuts off their head for heavens sake.

Perhaps their family made somebody mad and they took it out on the old folks.

This one is certainly puzzling.

My best theory is it's a troubled Kid like Sigg or this new one out in Ca that just killed six people plus himself.

Family and neighbors would know of such a kid...I think...but then again it seems the family of this new killer out in CA are so upset they can't form a whole sentence without breaking down.

How does one live with a monster and not know it?

Apparently, it can happen. Whether the spouse is in denial or so grossed out by the other spouse she doesn't care as long as the gross husband is somewhere else. I just think of John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgway and Dennis Rader.

Targeting the elderly is a category of killer and rapist. I am beginning to wonder if these crimes are solved less than crimes against younger victims.

 

[Jabarn]

I have never believed the theory he took the head to hide evidence.

Surely somebody this creepy would have thought of that and made a plan that would not leave evidence.

I think Sheriff Sills is wrong on that one.

Agreed.

 

[Jabarn]

Since Sills doesn't even believe that Russ was murdered in the garage, I imagine any evidence was left wherever the murders occurred. He only seemed to drag the body a short way into the garage when leaving it. He may have had gloves on at the time and may have made sure he did not walk in any blood.

I am not sure they did leave a whole bunch of evidence behind. It seems if they had found any bloody fingerprints in the garage they would have put a rush on them like they have done in other cases and in a couple of cases the results were returned in 2-3 days. I know a rush on evidence happened in the Gee murder cases and in the Heinz mass murder cases and they identified the suspects in that amount of time. If he had really left a bunch of evidence behind I think an arrest would have been made by this length of time.

In this case though I believe we are dealing with a much smarter murderer who took every precaution to protect himself. Imo, he had thought about this and planned it out in his mind for quite awhile.

It may never be solved either.

IMO

I agree. The murders happened a few days before Mr D's body was found. Who knows how long the killer was in the house before the beheading. He may have eaten their food, taken a shower, enjoyed a life in a nice lakeside house. There would be less blood splatter with an older corpse...

 

[Cardinal47]

Unless the perp did leave DNA at the scene, but isn't listed in any database.

OR

All DNA at the scene matched people who had a legitimate reason to have been there.

That's the problem with the Morgan Harrington murder out in Virginia. They DID indeed pick up DNA but they are unable to match it up.

It was a match with another rape victim but evidently that killer wasn't on file for anything else.

Sigh....

 

[Carolinapeach]

QUITE annerving, to say the least, to those of us on this lake or on or near Oconee! I guess it's time to be afraid of the water now TOOO!

Sad for the families of course !

All we need now is a return of the flesh eating bacteria.
The boat is damaged so did someone mow him down or did he have a medical situation and wreck the boat? Hopefully, the paper will follow up when the cause of death is determined. Not a good start for the summer in Lake Country. Very sad!

 

[Cardinal47]

I keep reading here that it is doubtful the perp went into the house. Just curious as to what your thoughts are. The perp rings the front doorbell, one of the D's answer the door - and then what? Mr.D steps outside with the perp? Mrs. D. answers the door, she is going to insist the perp come in, Southerners are insistent on this if you are known to them, while she gets hubby. Your thoughts??

I have always thought the killer caught one of them outside on their own grounds and either followed them in or forced them in.


If Mr. Dermond was killed someplace else and returned to the garage...where is that someplace else and how did he get there????

 

[tomkat]

All we need now is a return of the flesh eating bacteria.
The boat is damaged so did someone mow him down or did he have a medical situation and wreck the boat? Hopefully, the paper will follow up when the cause of death is determined. Not a good start for the summer in Lake Country. Very sad!

UGH, we were talking about that the other day too! Jeesh, had more than our fair share of bad news in this area

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I keep reading here that it is doubtful the perp went into the house. Just curious as to what your thoughts are. The perp rings the front doorbell, one of the D's answer the door - and then what? Mr.D steps outside with the perp? Mrs. D. answers the door, she is going to insist the perp come in, Southerners are insistent on this if you are known to them, while she gets hubby. Your thoughts??

Its so hard to guess when we really don't know anything.

But just speculating. I think maybe in the evening they could have been sitting outside on the patio when all of this happened. I know my hubby and I do every evening especially when the weather is warmer.

Does anyone have a photo of the backside of their home and property? tia

I just tend to think this person knew the daily habits of the Dermonds and maybe knew they sat outside late in the afternoon or early evening. They may have forced them at gunpoint or lured them somehow to go with them some place and that is the place they were murdered.

IMO

 

[Rhyolite]

Umm, two people drowning in the same lake, in the same month, at the same time two dead bodies found, one in the neighboring lake, one in a lakefront home?!?

Yes, yes, Vicki Stephens was ruled a drowning. BUT. The last published report on a Friday said on Monday, they expected it to be ruled 'accidental'. I cannot locate another reference that verifies if that actually happened the following Monday? Can anyone remember if they saw that published on or after May 14?

Statistically speaking, these drownings are as weird as they sound. 27 people will drown in one year in all of Georgia, in the age range of these two individuals.

It seems even more unlikely that people who purchase waterfront property, with docks and boats, swim so poorly that they might drown right off their own dock in the middle of the day.

https://dph.georgia.gov/sites/dph.georgia.gov/files/InjuryPrevention/Publications/Drowning.pdf

Here's a link to the drowning statistics for Georgia.

It's totally possible this is just a string of terrible coincidences but it sure does make you go "hmmmm"

I was just reading an article about drownings induced by electrocution. It is not just swimming pools, we have had a rash here in Florida due to pool lighting fixtures, but fresh water lakes with docks are a problem.

I bet everyone on that lake has a dock and a boat, or wishes to have a boat along with their dock.

Docks have lighting wires and shore power for boats.

There is a big problem with boats being wired wrong and electrocuting swimmers nearby. So that realtor VS who had a "heart attack" could have been shocked into cardiac arrest. Interestingly you are more likely to be electrocuted in fresh water than salt water. Seems contradictory. Apparently in fresh water, your body (being more saline) is a lower resistance and better conductor. In salt water, the current flows uninhibited to the surrounding water, thus you are a higher resistance. Basic Ohms law.

Sounds good in theory, not in a hurry to test it.

So if you approach a dock while swimming, do not reach out and grab any metal part of an unknown dock or boat.

 

[Rhyolite]

he took it to his leader:ufo:


or he was hiding a bullet in the head that links him to his service weapon ?

I dont' think they want it found really

You are thinking "bad cop"? I think you said this before..

 

[Rhyolite]

This, coupled with Sills' odd statement at the beginning that everyone was a suspect except him, gives me the willies.

me too!

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I have always thought the killer caught one of them outside on their own grounds and either followed them in or forced them in.


If Mr. Dermond was killed someplace else and returned to the garage...where is that someplace else and how did he get there????

I think they were both outside at the time this happened.

And that is the 64K dollar question, honeybun. Yes, where were they both killed? If Sills knew that he would have his killer, imo.

I think Shirley was also murdered at the same place Russ was. It makes no sense to take Russ's torso and put it in the garage after killing him and then murder Shirley there at her own home. Imo, the Dermond home is not the murder scene for either Shirley or Russ.

I am thinking like you are and they were either lured to the place they were murdered or forced to go at gunpoint.

I think whoever did this didn't come up by boat but came on foot to the Dermonds home on the backside of the properties to get to their home and took them back that same way to the location where they both were killed.

I have a question for posters who lives in that area or has been to the lakeside properties at GW where the Dermond's home is located. Do the homes have basements? tia

 

[Bethanthony]

I was just reading an article about drownings induced by electrocution. It is not just swimming pools, we have had a rash here in Florida due to pool lighting fixtures, but fresh water lakes with docks are a problem.

I bet everyone on that lake has a dock and a boat, or wishes to have a boat along with their dock.

Docks have lighting wires and shore power for boats.

There is a big problem with boats being wired wrong and electrocuting swimmers nearby. So that realtor VS who had a "heart attack" could have been shocked into cardiac arrest. Interestingly you are more likely to be electrocuted in fresh water than salt water. Seems contradictory. Apparently in fresh water, your body (being more saline) is a lower resistance and better conductor. In salt water, the current flows uninhibited to the surrounding water, thus you are a higher resistance. Basic Ohms law.

Sounds good in theory, not in a hurry to test it.

So if you approach a dock while swimming, do not reach out and grab any metal part of an unknown dock or boat.

Ryolite, did VS have a heart attack?!? I missed that! The last article I could find said her drowning was probably going to be confirmed accidental, but I never saw anything after. Hmm, I guess it all really is a strange series of coincidences....tragic and strange coincidences...

 

[tomkat]

I was just reading an article about drownings induced by electrocution. It is not just swimming pools, we have had a rash here in Florida due to pool lighting fixtures, but fresh water lakes with docks are a problem.

I bet everyone on that lake has a dock and a boat, or wishes to have a boat along with their dock.

Docks have lighting wires and shore power for boats.

There is a big problem with boats being wired wrong and electrocuting swimmers nearby. So that realtor VS who had a "heart attack" could have been shocked into cardiac arrest. Interestingly you are more likely to be electrocuted in fresh water than salt water. Seems contradictory. Apparently in fresh water, your body (being more saline) is a lower resistance and better conductor. In salt water, the current flows uninhibited to the surrounding water, thus you are a higher resistance. Basic Ohms law.

Sounds good in theory, not in a hurry to test it.

So if you approach a dock while swimming, do not reach out and grab any metal part of an unknown dock or boat.

that actually happen in the cove near us, they had been doing work and had run electrical wiring down the dock, as is usual for lighting and lifts etc but a young girl reached up while swimming and grabbed ahold of bare hot wires, not sure if they were finished or a mishap but it killed her

Such a tragedy,

ours is in conduit, I really didnt' want it there, but that does help and its not exposed

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I was just reading an article about drownings induced by electrocution. It is not just swimming pools, we have had a rash here in Florida due to pool lighting fixtures, but fresh water lakes with docks are a problem.

I bet everyone on that lake has a dock and a boat, or wishes to have a boat along with their dock.

Docks have lighting wires and shore power for boats.

There is a big problem with boats being wired wrong and electrocuting swimmers nearby. So that realtor VS who had a "heart attack" could have been shocked into cardiac arrest. Interestingly you are more likely to be electrocuted in fresh water than salt water. Seems contradictory. Apparently in fresh water, your body (being more saline) is a lower resistance and better conductor. In salt water, the current flows uninhibited to the surrounding water, thus you are a higher resistance. Basic Ohms law.

Sounds good in theory, not in a hurry to test it.

So if you approach a dock while swimming, do not reach out and grab any metal part of an unknown dock or boat.

Most of the drowning deaths we have in lakes/rivers here in Georgia are unfortunately related most often to drinking excessive alcohol either by a boater who is driving the boat who hits a swimmer(s) or a swimmer consuming too much themselves.

IMO

 

[tomkat]

You are thinking "bad cop"? I think you said this before..

no, not me, someone else brought that up about a possible cop but hey, you never know, there have been many crazy cops in Bibb County in the past few years, one arrest after another of the dang deputies

 

[Peppery]

I keep reading here that it is doubtful the perp went into the house. Just curious as to what your thoughts are. The perp rings the front doorbell, one of the D's answer the door - and then what? Mr.D steps outside with the perp? Mrs. D. answers the door, she is going to insist the perp come in, Southerners are insistent on this if you are known to them, while she gets hubby. Your thoughts??

Except they're not true southerners. They lived in jersey for how long? Majority of their lives? I'll have to go back and check. But I grew up not far from there and been in GA more than 12 years myself and I've not adopted the southern way of life at all. It's all still very foreign to me.

 

[Cardinal47]

Do people sit outside in Georgia? I can see the Dermonds having a glass of wine on their beautiful second floor Sun Room but I just can't see them sitting outside.

My friend lives in Alabama and the bugs are about to drive her crazy. She might be outside working in the yard during the day but come evening she is inside.

So asking the locals do almost 90 folks tend to sit outside or do they prefer the comfort of their own homes with a window view?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I agree. The murders happened a few days before Mr D's body was found. Who knows how long the killer was in the house before the beheading. He may have eaten their food, taken a shower, enjoyed a life in a nice lakeside house. There would be less blood splatter with an older corpse...

Hi there Jabam!:seeya:

No matter a person's age they have the same amount of blood as any human.

And older people tend to have high blood pressure so if he was murdered, decapitated in the home there would be a tremendous amount of blood spatter. It would be like severing a hose filled with compressed air and when it is cut the air blows out everywhere in all directions. So I don't agree that there would be less blood spatter. Once the main arteries were severed it would spew out with great force everywhere. And we know that Shirley was also bludgeoned to death. Another thing that causes tremendous blood spatter. And for all we know Russ could have been murdered the same way.............creating even more blood spatter.

I don't think the Dermond home was ever entered by the killer. I don't know of any murderer who would take the time to make everything look immaculate before they left. I think the home was neat because that is the way Shirley always kept it.

IMO

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Do people sit outside in Georgia? I can see the Dermonds having a glass of wine on their beautiful second floor Sun Room but I just can't see them sitting outside.

My friend lives in Alabama and the bugs are about to drive her crazy. She might be outside working in the yard during the day but come evening she is inside.

So asking the locals do almost 90 folks tend to sit outside or do they prefer the comfort of their own homes with a window view?

Every person I know sits outside. That is why you see so many porches/patios/huge decks built in Georgia. Most counties have sprayers that come around and spray for insects but we are used to the gnats or a fly or two flying around. You get use to them.

In the evening is the best time of the day to sit and relax, talk, and have a drink or early in the morning. It isn't because of the bugs during the day .....its just more relaxing and cooler during the morning or evening and you can see the sun coming up or the sun setting. My hubby and I sit out on our patio sometimes after dark. We have cozy lights in our Gazebo and it so pretty at night.

My mother in law is 89 and she would rather sit outside on her patio than anywhere else.

IMO