Murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond

The murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond occurred in early May 2014. Russell Dermond was found dead on May 6, 2014, in the garage of the house he owned next to Lake Oconee in Putnam County, Georgia. His body had been decapitated when it was found, and his head could not be found in the house. Russell's wife, Shirley Dermond, could not be located in the house either. More than a week later, her body was discovered floating in Lake Oconee, about five miles from her house. She appeared to have died from a blow to her head, and her body had been weighted down with concrete blocks. Her body floated to the surface because it was not sufficiently weighted to keep it underwater. Unlike her husband, she had not been decapitated. At the time of their deaths, Russell was 88 years old and Shirley was 87. As of November 29, 2020, the murders remain unsolved, and Russell's head still had not been found.[1]

Background

Russell Dermond was originally from Hackensack, New Jersey. He served in the United States Navy during World War II.[2] He married Shirley on December 15, 1950. They went on to have four children and nine grandchildren. After working in the fast food industry, including owning several Hardee's locations in Atlanta, he retired in 1994. Russell and Shirley went on to move to the Great Waters Reynolds Lake Oconee gated community, about 12 miles northeast of Eatonton.[1][3] In 2000, their oldest son Mark was killed in Atlanta while attempting to purchase crack cocaine. Investigators believe that there is no connection between this crime and the murder of Mark's parents.[2]

Russell Dermond was last seen alive on May 1, 2014, running errands at a grocery store and bank in Eatonton. Along with Shirley, he spoke with his son Brad over the phone later that day. Russell and Shirley were expected to attend a party for the 2014 Kentucky Derby the following weekend with their neighbors, who grew concerned when the Dermonds did not show up. On May 6, one of their neighbors went to the Dermonds' house to check on them.[3] The neighbor found the door unlocked and entered the house. Russell's dead, decapitated body was found on the floor of his two-car garage, lying in a small pool of blood.[1] When police were unable to locate Shirley at the house, they initially suspected that she had been kidnapped.[4] Ten days later, her body was found by fishermen on Lake Oconee. An autopsy found that she had died from either two or three deep wounds to the head from a blunt object.[5]

Investigations

Initially, investigators were pursuing multiple potential leads to find the perpetrator (or perpetrators) and their motive for killing the Dermonds. However, this eventually led nowhere, and over time the leads gradually declined in frequency.[4] Although the perpetrator(s) and motive remain unknown, Putnam County sheriff Howard Sills has said he is convinced that multiple people were involved. Because gunshot residue was found on Russell's collar,[5] Sills also believes that Russell was decapitated after having been shot in the head in an attempt to prevent police from finding the bullet,[6] and that the perpetrators went to the Dermonds' home intending to obtain money, despite the fact that nothing in the home was stolen.[5]

See also

References
  1. Covak, Joe (2019-05-02). "'Psychopath': 5 years after grisly Lake Oconee murders, who killed the Dermonds — and why?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  2. Thrash, Rodney (2014-05-16). "Decapitation mystery: Russell Dermond was World War II vet, golfer". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  3. Noll, Jessica (2018-05-03). "The murders at Lake Oconee: 4 years later, elderly couple's son opens up". WTSP. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  4. Hobbs, Billy (2019-05-08). "'Somebody knows. And there's more than one person involved in this'". The Union-Recorder. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  5. Boone, Christian (2019-05-05). "5 years later, murders of Lake Oconee couple continue to confound". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  6. "The murders at Lake Oconee: 4 years later, elderly couple's son opens up". 11Alive. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
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