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Cold Case Project | The double murder of Cheryl Newsome and Troy Bennett
WARREN COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF)- One double homicide left two families awaiting justice for the last three years.
“It haunts me that my aunt died last year with cancer and she was close to Cheryl. She said I hope before I die they find who did this, but that didn’t happen,” Sandra Azimi, the younger sister of Cheryl Newsome told us.
72-year-olds Cheryl Newsome and Troy Bennett were spending a Sunday evening at home on August 2, 2020.
“They actually came to my house about 3:30 in the afternoon and we had a fish fry,” Newsome’s daughter Wendy Purvis told Cold Case Project. “And they came home about 6:30 in the evening. I talked to mama at 7:30 and she called me and we talked briefly and that was the last time we talked.”
Wendy Purvis lives next door to the Mitchell Road home in Warren County where the couple settled in for the night. Bennett had been working on a Blackstone griddle out back he purchased that weekend from an auction in Crawfordville. Newsome was more than likely sitting in her recliner with a blanket. The next day, August 3, Newsome never picked up her granddaughter for a sports physical as scheduled.
“When she hadn’t picked up Gracie by 10 o’clock I knew something was wrong,” Purvis said adding that she sent her daughter next door to the home.
“That’s when she walked in the back door and found Troy on the floor,” she recalled.
And Purvis’ daughter found both her grandmother and her partner dead on the bedroom floor. She called a police friend. And news began to spread, reaching Cheryl’s younger sister in Macon, Georgia.
[ ... }
“Items were taken from the home,” he said. “There’s items missing from the home. I can tell you that. So, apparently there is a robbery angle to this.”
Purvis added some TVs were taken and cash too, but the safe was untouched.
“I think people knew that there was money in here,” Logue said of her opinion of the crime. “You wouldn’t know going by, but the people that knew her, that knew him, that went to the Crawfordville sale where he bought that safe. Why you going to buy a safe without putting any valuables in it?”
“So you think they were targeted?” we asked.
“I think they were targeted,” Logue replied. “Most definitely think they were targeted.”
Not giving up hope, the family took to Facebook and started the Justice For Cheryl Newsome and Troy Bennett Memorial Group. Two billboards went up in McDuffie County as well with a GBI tip line and a reward.
“Right now it’s at $10,000,” Purvis said.
July of this year, the Coleman-Baker Act went into law. It establishes a GBI cold case unit that will focus on unsolved homicides. Purvis completed applications for Newsome and Bennett. And with the help of Morgan and this newly formed cold case unit, the Warren County double homicide will be among the first in the CSRA to hopefully benefit from the new law.
[ ... ]
Additionally, [Patrick] Morgan said that there are items he submitted for DNA testing. And he said the GBI unit can assist with paying for the tests. He feels the case can be solved. And this is what keeps the family hopeful for justice.
“Maybe it might take years, but I think it will all come out eventually,” Azimi said.
WARREN COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF)- One double homicide left two families awaiting justice for the last three years.
“It haunts me that my aunt died last year with cancer and she was close to Cheryl. She said I hope before I die they find who did this, but that didn’t happen,” Sandra Azimi, the younger sister of Cheryl Newsome told us.
72-year-olds Cheryl Newsome and Troy Bennett were spending a Sunday evening at home on August 2, 2020.
“They actually came to my house about 3:30 in the afternoon and we had a fish fry,” Newsome’s daughter Wendy Purvis told Cold Case Project. “And they came home about 6:30 in the evening. I talked to mama at 7:30 and she called me and we talked briefly and that was the last time we talked.”
Wendy Purvis lives next door to the Mitchell Road home in Warren County where the couple settled in for the night. Bennett had been working on a Blackstone griddle out back he purchased that weekend from an auction in Crawfordville. Newsome was more than likely sitting in her recliner with a blanket. The next day, August 3, Newsome never picked up her granddaughter for a sports physical as scheduled.
“When she hadn’t picked up Gracie by 10 o’clock I knew something was wrong,” Purvis said adding that she sent her daughter next door to the home.
“That’s when she walked in the back door and found Troy on the floor,” she recalled.
And Purvis’ daughter found both her grandmother and her partner dead on the bedroom floor. She called a police friend. And news began to spread, reaching Cheryl’s younger sister in Macon, Georgia.
[ ... }
“Items were taken from the home,” he said. “There’s items missing from the home. I can tell you that. So, apparently there is a robbery angle to this.”
Purvis added some TVs were taken and cash too, but the safe was untouched.
“I think people knew that there was money in here,” Logue said of her opinion of the crime. “You wouldn’t know going by, but the people that knew her, that knew him, that went to the Crawfordville sale where he bought that safe. Why you going to buy a safe without putting any valuables in it?”
“So you think they were targeted?” we asked.
“I think they were targeted,” Logue replied. “Most definitely think they were targeted.”
Not giving up hope, the family took to Facebook and started the Justice For Cheryl Newsome and Troy Bennett Memorial Group. Two billboards went up in McDuffie County as well with a GBI tip line and a reward.
“Right now it’s at $10,000,” Purvis said.
July of this year, the Coleman-Baker Act went into law. It establishes a GBI cold case unit that will focus on unsolved homicides. Purvis completed applications for Newsome and Bennett. And with the help of Morgan and this newly formed cold case unit, the Warren County double homicide will be among the first in the CSRA to hopefully benefit from the new law.
[ ... ]
Additionally, [Patrick] Morgan said that there are items he submitted for DNA testing. And he said the GBI unit can assist with paying for the tests. He feels the case can be solved. And this is what keeps the family hopeful for justice.
“Maybe it might take years, but I think it will all come out eventually,” Azimi said.
