ATLANTA — The Putnam County sheriff is releasing new information about what could a big clue in the murder of a couple killed at their Lake Oconee home.
The murders of Shirley and Russell Dermond last year shocked the community.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne confirmed with Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills that Shirley Dermond was weighted down to the floor of Lake Oconee with two cement blocks soon after her murder the weekend of May 2, 2014.
Sills told Winne the 87-year-old murder victim's remains were tied to the blocks, but the killer or killers must not have counted on the effect of decomposing gases beneath the skin which develop buoyancy.
The sheriff says that development has yielded some of the most potentially significant evidence in the case, once a suspect is developed.
"(There's) a lot more to work with when you have the body," said FBI Special Agent Steve Emmett. "Whatever Putnam feels that they need from the FBI, we will be there for them."
Emmett suggests physical evidence isn't the only thing yielded in such situations.
"From a behavioral analysis standpoint, it gives our profilers an insight by the way the body was found, the way it was disposed of as well," Emmett said.
Sills told Winne he's checked many suppliers for the blocks, but concluded the blocks are "as common as ketchup."
He says the blocks are the main reason he has said repeatedly that the killer or killers never intended for her body to be found, unlike the remains of her husband, Russell Dermond, who was found decapitated in the garage of their home.
Sheriff: Wife in Lake Oconee double murder was weighted down with cement blocks
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