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

[CHERIE.T]

The murders were personal, a main dish of revenge.
With a side order of meth.
IMO

yep, I agree.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

That's a lot of bravado, IMO. I think it is very hard for someone in an elected position to not pull that stance. There is no tenure, no job security. I do not wish him any ill wishes at all, and I hope he solves this crime. But if you were in his shoes, would you not take any expert investigative agents to help? Even if they were from the GBI? He didn't. He may have a good reason, but it certainly isn't progressing this case any.

I don't think he is filled with bravado. He is a very down to earth man and a little rough around the edges sometimes. His language is colorful but that is how a lot of southern Sheriffs talk. He is a highly educated man. The man that practically raised him was a DA and everyone that knows him says he knows the law like the back of his hand. He has been doing this for 40 years.

I don't blame him one bit for not calling the GBI in on this high profile case. In one of his most high profile cases ever when he sent the cult leader York to prison he asked for the GBIs assistance and they turned him down.

The FBI is just as good both with profiling and with their labs as the GBI is and they have been on the case since day one.

He is a sheriff that is so well liked by his peers that seven other county sheriff departments have been assisting him on this case from day one. That is sort of unheard of since most LE stays in their own turf and likes it that way.

I am from Georgia myself and while the GBI is ok they do tend to want to takeover a case when they are only asked to assist. The FBI never tries to takeover a state's case and knows and respects that the case always remains in full control of the local jurisdiction law enforcement agency.

I do think he has very good reasons.

He may ask for their assistance later on.

IMO

 

[CHERIE.T]

Anyone know how many sheriffs, LE, etc. initially searched the home?

 

[CrystalAnn]

Hey CrystalAnn- in betwixt reading your post, I get a pop up to play Zynga Poker. Apparently, many of us are getting some weirdness on this board. Anyway, I did want it respond to you.

I thought it was odd the one adult child shared his story with the British tabloid; that was where a cult possibility was first published. I wouldn't want to be judged so try to hold off judgement on others, unless there is no way out.

I do think the cult theory is probably chasing a rabbit, so to speak. I guess I mean by that, I can't capture any evidence of that. What I do see is a sick person, or possibly persons, who have a motive yet understood.

not sure where the zynga poker is coming from, not from me!!

im not quite sure who i judged? there was no judgement.. the judgement i saw was from people laughing at the others who were discussing the cult, so in jest i called them crazy.. which would make me crazy for thinking they could be right.. i just thought id chime in when i saw a few posts that looked to be mocking the cult theory. i dont think anyone heres crazy if thats what it looked like!! if anything, im the crazy one lol

possibly "chasing a rabbit", but possibly not. obviously a sick person. but isn't this site for theories and looking for clues? if the son of a murdered man mentions a cult, i dont think its crazy to look into a cult theory..

again, not here to make judgements, im nice, i swear. lol

EDITED BECAUSE: I think I may have mis-read your response and went off on a misguided tangent.. that's why im usually just a silent observer here. hehe oopsie.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I am half way there with you. I am not convinced though the body was ever anywhere far removed from the house. I think the body would be too much to move, too far. I do think he took the head. This is a sick, sick person. I think he took it, I hope I am wrong though, to keep. Yuck.

I can understand that but if he was killed anywhere on his own property the scent dogs would have alerted to that area like it was a new bone, imo.

I have read cases where women who didn't weigh but 120-125 pounds murdered their spouse then dragged his body out that probably weighed over 200 pounds and one drug him down two flights of stairs, then drug him to where her car was parked and lifted his dead body up in her car when she went to discard his body.

And many small women have murdered much larger men and dragged them out of the home and out in the backyard way in the back and then dug a hole and buried their bodies.

So moving him doesn't seem all that hard to do, imo, especially if this was a man, which I think it is.

IMO

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Anyone know how many sheriffs, LE, etc. initially searched the home?

I really don't think that has been released Cherie. Sills said he had 40 FBI agents working the case and has had help from the US Marshalls office iirc and 7 other county sheriff departments have been assisting him.

I do know he was on site the first day and probably was there at some point everyday for the weeks it took before the home was finally released to the family. He may have had the forensic teams in there searching the home though.

imo

 

[StaceyBT]

It's just a very odd thing to say, IMO. No one accused him of doing it, so why even say that? It just seems...a very pointed, unnecessary statement.

And NO, I don't think Sills did it! I do think he's in way over his head with this investigation though. When this thing is solved, I don't think it will be by him.:moo:

Don't sell him short! Howard Sills is KNOWN for being a top notch investigator and also one that will stop at nothing to solve it. If it is solvable, HE will do it.

 

[Janeumayer]

My subconscious keeps telling me "property line dispute"….

 

[Hickory Born]

My subconscious keeps telling me "property line dispute"….

The lot next door was sold through a bank foreclosure in Jan. 2014. This sold for the basement bargain price of $100,000 when the true value was nearer to $300,000. Look at the lot line and front footage on the culdesac...very narrow. This can be found on the Putnam County Tax Assessor website.

 

[Rhyolite]

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

Although it costs some money, you can install an isolation transformer and balance the hot and neutral so that it would be more difficult for a fault current to flow between one conductor to earth.

 

[CHERIE.T]

I really don't think that has been released Cherie. Sills said he had 40 FBI agents working the case and has had help from the US Marshalls office iirc and 7 other county sheriff departments have been assisting him.

I do know he was on site the first day and probably was there at some point everyday for the weeks it took before the home was finally released to the family. He may have had the forensic teams in there searching the home though.

imo

Thanks OBE. Sure hope this case is solved soon.
Wonder if there was a hidden safe in the house?

 

[Eileen730]

not sure where the zynga poker is coming from, not from me!!

im not quite sure who i judged? there was no judgement.. the judgement i saw was from people laughing at the others who were discussing the cult, so in jest i called them crazy.. which would make me crazy for thinking they could be right.. i just thought id chime in when i saw a few posts that looked to be mocking the cult theory. i dont think anyone heres crazy if thats what it looked like!! if anything, im the crazy one lol

possibly "chasing a rabbit", but possibly not. obviously a sick person. but isn't this site for theories and looking for clues? if the son of a murdered man mentions a cult, i dont think its crazy to look into a cult theory..

again, not here to make judgements, im nice, i swear. lol

EDITED BECAUSE: I think I may have mis-read your response and went off on a misguided tangent.. that's why im usually just a silent observer here. hehe oopsie.

I don't think anyone was laughing at the cult theory nor mocking it.
Some of us were just not buying it.

I think the Question is
WHY would the son of a murdered man mention a cult?

In crimes like this I have to say anything is possible!

Was this done in retaliation for something a family member is involved in?
I don't think a neighbor did this.
Im still on the follow the money theory!



All JMO

 

[Eileen730]

Thanks OBE. Sure hope this case is solved soon.
Wonder if there was a hidden safe in the house?

My guess would be YES!

 

[Carolinapeach]

DNR finds body in lake

Thus far, investigators believe the incident took place during daylight hours and that the vessel struck a dock on the lake.

http://m.unionrecorder.com/unionrecorder/db_293701/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=UdypD9QI

 

[Bootsctr]

Good morning everyone! :coffeews:

Regarding if Mr. D had a safe or not, I would think he would. I think it's sort of a man thing IMO. We have a safe and it's not hidden. It's the monster in the bedroom. It holds all the guns and picture negatives, important papers, a few gold coins. Anyway, it wasn't my idea, but I was overruled. The Dermonds could have had a built-in safe to hold important stuff too, cash, their passports, etc. But, nothing was taken from the house as far as Sills and the family could determine, so the safe was untouched.

It sounds like a lot of trouble to be moving Mr. D's body around, to a boat or to another house in the neighborhood, etc. If more than one perp was involved (which, I, like Sills, believe there were at least 2 involved), perhaps the second perp was the lookout. Perhaps at the entrance gate where all incoming traffic could be monitored and radioed to the perp at the Dermonds' house. The attack could have come Friday evening as Mr. D was checking the premises before turning on the alarm and preparing for bed. Perhaps Mrs. D was outside doing a bit spring planting of some flowers and Mr. D went to get her because light was fading. She says she'll be right there and Mr. D heads to the garage entrance. Before Mr. D even makes inside the perp steps out from around the corner, from behind a tree, etc. and hits Mr. D on the head and Mr. D goes down. He drags Mr. D into the garage and waits for Mrs. D who arrives a few minutes later and hits her on the head. He then drags her inside, although we don't know if Mrs. D's blood was found in the garage, so this is all just pure speculation. However, now having both of the Dermonds in their garage and the house alarm not yet being turned, the killer has all night and Saturday to do what he needs to do. He probably was gone by daylight on Saturday morning with Mr. D's head and Mrs. D's body and by the time his lookout at the gate was clocking out. They went and placed Mrs. D's body where it was eventually found and returned to their homes with no one the wiser.

So, my friends, we have the means for the Dermonds' murders that range from a crowbar to a hammer to a bat.

We have opportunity - a window of two days - Friday and Saturday.

Here's what I lack, motive. What was the motive for killing the Dermonds and taking Mr. Dermond's head and Mrs. Dermonds body to dump in the lake? What did the killer or killers have to gain? Does our killer have an alibi? Did LE get the time of death wrong? What is the motive:banghead:

 

[Bootsctr]

DNR finds body in lake

Thus far, investigators believe the incident took place during daylight hours and that the vessel struck a dock on the lake.

http://m.unionrecorder.com/unionrecorder/db_293701/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=UdypD9QI

Thanks for the update Carolinapeach! I checked the messenger and they had not updated the story yet.

Wow! I guess the impact of the boat hitting a dock threw the fisherman out of the boat and knocked him unconscious and he drowned? You guys certainly have a lot of strange water-related accidents over there in Georgia. I feel bad for his family, but at least his body was recovered quickly.

 

[Foxfire]

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?

Serial Sexual Predator of the Elderly; 'Gerontophilia'

(Study of Elderly Abuse and their Offenders)
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/216550.pdf

(Example of a Montgomery,AL Sexual Predator/Gerontophile) 05/08/2014)
http://www.wsfa.com/story/25471160/...argeted-elderly-women-sentenced-in-montgomery

 

[Canaille]

Serial Sexual Predator of the Elderly

http://www.wsfa.com/story/25471160/...argeted-elderly-women-sentenced-in-montgomery

Good for her! She managed to remain calm and take control of the situation... something we don't hear much of. Glad they caught the SOB.

 

[Canaille]

This is probably a far fetched thought but, if the perp had in fact killed Mr and Mrs D elsewhere, could he have forgotten the head? Maybe with an adreneline rush going on he loaded the two bodies to return to the home and left without bringing the head back.

I was both afraid and hoping at the same time that the head would show up during the Memorial day holiday weekend. Now, I'm just hoping that it doesn't show up somewhere on Father's day.

There are just so many sick possibilities. I hope they catch this/these little creep(s) soon.

 

[tomkat]

I might add that I saw that the realtor's death on one site was still not confirming her death as accidental. It had not been updated since May 9th, I believe. I know someone here said she had an longstanding illness and didn't mean anything. If someone has a link stating that her death was accidental I would appreciate a look-see.

thanks, I remember it was posted here that it was accidental and so any idea of it being related to the Dermond case was poo poo'd after that

IDK, too many deaths so close together, makes you wonder

I'll dig around to see what i can find too