No body, no crime? Fulton man convicted of murder after having ‘a box the size of’ victim

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A team of Fulton County prosecutors say getting a murder conviction despite a body never being found was an obstacle, but not one they couldn’t overcome.

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne spoke with prosecutors who say even though there was no body, there was enough circumstantial evidence to prove Anthony Bernard Stokes killed his girlfriend Sean Macklin in 2020.

“What’s important is that when he went in, the bed of his truck was empty, and when he came out, the bed of his truck was full with a box the size of Ms. Macklin,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Adam Abbate said.

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“He had threatened her in the past, that he would kill her and no one would find her body and that is what he did,” Deputy District Attorney Asia Baysah said.

Macklin’s body has never been found, but prosecutors say the body of evidence was compelling despite that.

They say he was on parole after more than 27 years in prison for the 1992 murder of his roommate when he killed Macklin.

“Ms. Macklin’s daughter called in to the police and told the police not that her mother was missing, but that her mother was dead because she was privy to the prior difficulties and the statements that the defendant would kill her and no one would find her body,” said Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Kassie Hall.

The team says that Stokes recorded an argument with Macklin in the bathroom the day she was last seen that would be key evidence against him.

Prosecutors say the only place in the apartment where police found large amounts of her blood was in the bathroom.

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Surveillance video from the apartment complex where they live and Stokes worked as a maintenance man show him trying to cover a security camera before driving his truck in with an empty bed and then pulling out with a large cardboard box in the back.

Video captured later at a Riverdale Walmart showed Stokes wearing new clothes he bought there and trashing a bundle that prosecutors claimed were the clothes he wore when he killed Macklin and disposed of her body.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis says they have new unit of lawyers dedicated to domestic violence cases.

“We now have 11 lawyers that exclusively look at domestic violence cases,” Willis said. “That is a completely new unit. You know, it’s very dear to my heart. It’s named after my aunt Brenda Bayham who was murdered by her husband.”

After being convicted on Tuesday, Stokes was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Ms. Sean Macklin’s life mattered. It mattered to her children,” Hall said. “They should have peace.”

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