SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. -- Investigators say they are close to making arrests in a murder mystery that's remain unsolved for nearly 34 years.
On Oct. 9, 1983, the body of Timothy Coggins was discovered on a power line off of Minter Road in Sunnyside. While investigators gathered evidence and questioned suspects and witnesses at the time, the case remain unsolved.
In June 2017, after information from various sources was forwarded to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, agents reopened the case.
After several interviews with witnesses, both new and old, and with newly-gathered evidence, investigators believe arrests could be forthcoming.
"It does not matter who he was, or where he was from, this man died a horrible death and those responsible for his murder need to be held accountable," said Spalding County Sheriff Darrel Dix. "I can say without a doubt that if Mr. Coggins was murdered today, in 2017, it would absolutely be classified as a hate crime. Thirty-four years have passed since this horrible crime was committed and those who killed him have believed that they would remain untouched until literally just a few days ago.”
Dix said that suspects in the murder have " threatened and intimidated potential witnesses" in the decades since the crime.
"We believe that there are people with pertinent information regarding this case that are still out there and we are asking them to come forward," Dix said. "We are asking for anyone who may have information about this murder, especially the hours leading up to the discovery of Coggins’ body, to contact the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office at (770)-467-4282 and ask to speak to Lt. Mike Morris or GBI Agent Jared Coleman. Any detail, no matter how small you may think it is, could be valuable in bringing Coggins’ killers to justice."
