Investigators charge a Birmingham man with cold case murder in LaFayette
Clerance George
LAFAYETTE, Georgia (WDEF) – Authorities in northwest Georgia announce they have made an arrest in a 24 year old cold case murder.
The suspect is 63 year old Clerance George.
He was arrested by U.S. Marshals in the Birmingham area and will be extradited back to Walker County, Georgia.
In June of 2000, Julie Ann McDonald was found tied up and stabbed to death in her home in LaFayette.
She was a pharmacist in the Chattanooga area.
Sheriff Steve Wilson says George did know her before the murder.
And his name came up afterwards in regards to passing checks written from her stolen check book.
But they could not link him to the murder for years.
Over time, the Sheriff’s Office along with GBI agents continues to review the case.
The Sheriff says they made progress on it in 2015.
But the breakthrough seems to have come from the GBI crime lab, though officials are not giving out details on the evidence they have against George.
They, also, are not giving a potential motive for the killing at this time.
The Sheriff says many family members of the victim has passed away over the years, but they have informed a niece and nephew of McDonald’s about the arrest.
