STAFF REPORT :::
The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office announce that arrests have been made in the 1983 murder of Timothy Coggins.
Coggins was murdered in October 1983 on Manley Road. He suffered multiple forms of trauma that resulted in his death.
Brutally murdered, his body was abandoned in a grassy area adjacent to a high-tension powerline on Manley Road in the Sunnyside area of northern Spalding County.
Soon after his body was discovered, investigators of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office began interviewing acquaintances, developing suspects and gathering evidence in their search for Coggins’ killer.
After an exhaustive investigation the case went cold and until now, had remained unsolved.
In March 2017, new evidence came to light that led investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office to re-examine the case.
Spalding County investigators and GBI agents met with the Coggins family on July 26, and briefed them on the new leads. They have stayed in contact with family representatives since that time.
Shortly after meeting with the Coggins family, the decision was made to release to the media information on the re-opened case to generate new conversations, witnesses and leads.
Original witnesses were contacted and re-interviewed, and new information was received. Thanks to the assistance of both local and statewide news media coverage, previously unknown witnesses stepped forward.
When interviewed, many of the witnesses stated they had been living with this information since Coggins’ death, but had been afraid to come forward or had not spoken of it until now.
Each new lead was checked out and followed up. This attention to detail slowed the pace of the investigation, but was necessary to ensure that no stone was left unturned, and that the investigation was successful.
The ultimate goal was to get the justice Timothy Coggins and his family have waited for since 1983, authorities said.
Based on the original evidence recovered in 1983 and new evidence and interviews there is no doubt in the minds of all investigators involved that the crime was racially motivated and that if the crime happened today it would be prosecuted as a hate crime.
Today, Oct. 13, 2017, 34 years and four days after Timothy Coggins’ body was discovered abandoned off Manley Road, a joint effort between the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office has resulted in arrests for the murder of Timothy Coggins and additional arrests for other criminal acts discovered during the renewed investigation.
Friday morning, investigators, agents, and deputies made those arrests and executed search warrants seizing evidence and documents related to these crimes.
Officials stress that this investigation is not over. It has entered a new phase leading up to the prosecution of those people responsible for this heinous crime, and those that obstructed or hindered this investigation, authorities said.
Standing together Friday were members of the Coggins family, agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, District Attorney Ben Coker, Chief Assistant District Attorney Marie Broder, Spalding County Sheriff’s investigators and Spalding County government officials.
“We are sending a message that we want to make crystal clear. If you are a criminal, murderer, drug dealer or gang member you are no longer welcome or tolerated in Spalding County. We will do everything we can to stop you regardless of who you are, where you come from, and as demonstrated today, regardless of time or distance,” read a press release issued by Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Timothy Coggins family and we will support them and stand with them as the prosecution of his murderers’ moves forward.”
Arrested in connection with Coggins’ murder were:
Frankie Gebhardt, a white male, age 59, who is charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another.
Bill Moore Sr., a white male, age 58, who is charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and concealing the death of another.
Charged with obstruction are Sandra Bunn, a white female, age 58 and Lamar Bunn, a white male, age unknown.
Gregory Huffman, a white male, age 47, is charged with violating his oath of office and obstruction.
