DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A 60-year-old man has learned his fate after he murdered a woman, concealed her body in a container and left her on the side of the road four years ago, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney.
A jury convicted James Lee Griffin Jr. on felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another in the murder of 39-year-old Kathleen Bass. The judge sentenced Griffin to life in prison plus 10 years.
The deadly incident happened on June 12, 2020. Bass' body was found over a month after her death when a construction worker, who was prepping a site on Hillandale Drive in Stonecrest, noticed a foul order and an upside-down blue container. The worker then used equipment to move the container, which caused the contents to spill out, exposing human remains wrapped in sheets, the district attorney's office said.
After her body was found, police received two anonymous tips linking the remains to Bass, leading police to Griffin. They also recovered a bag of trash near the area where Bass' body was recovered that had a receipt for pizza with Griffin's name, address and phone number, a news release added.
The receipt led detectives to get a search warrant for Griffin's apartment. After searching the apartment, officers found large areas of blood that someone had tried to clean, the district attorney's office stated. Officers also noticed a heavy smell of bleach. After testing, the blood matched Bass, and Griffin's DNA was found.
Witness testimony during the trial revealed Bass was dropped off at Griffin's apartment complex to meet with him, and she was never seen or heard from again. Ring camera video later showed Griffin leaving his apartment days later, pulling and dragging the blue container, similar to the one Bass' body was found in, out of his apartment and down the stairs.
A report from the medical examiner's officer revealed that Griffin might have stabbed Bass with an object like a knife.
Griffin moved to Arkansas and began a new job driving a truck. He was arrested four months later, on September 17, 2020, for a separate criminal matter.
