CAUTION: Some language used during the live streaming trial testimony may be offensive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
GRIFFIN, Ga. -- The murder trial of one of two men accused of brutally killing Timothy Coggins in 1983 could go to the jury as early as next Tuesday.
On Friday, jurors heard a profanity laced audio recording between Frankie Gebhardt, one of the men accused in the murder, and police. Gebhardt repeatedly denied any involvement in Coggins' murder.
Gebhardt is accused of stabbing and then dragging Coggins behind a vehicle in 1983, in what prosecutors call a racially-motivated crime. Another man, Bill Moore, Sr., is accused in the case, and his trial will take place at a later date.
Investigators have said there was never enough evidence to arrest either of them right after the crime, but that changed last year when the GBI received new information.
Prosecutors played an hour-long recording Friday morning that was made between investigators and Gebhardt while he was in jail on unrelated charge. During the interview, Gebhardt demanded names of who was talking about him, becoming aggressive and threatening lawsuits.
Gebhardt also said he hadn't discussed the murder recently with a man named Christopher Vaughn, even though the sheriff's office had another recording of Vaughn talking with Gebhardt about the murder.
Here is part of the interview:
Police -- "What I'm trying to figure out is if Bill killed him and you saw it, did you kill him and Bill saw it, or you all both killed him."
Gebhardt -- "Well you're dead *** wrong because I didn't kill nobody. And you're dead *** know I ain't saw nobody kill nobody. So you dead *** wrong on both of them."
Police -- "So why would you say that?"
Gebhardt -- "Why you saying that I killed him? Or Bill killed him?"
Police -- "Because that is the information that I've got from…"
Gebhardt -- "Well then you got the wrong **** information."
At other times in the interview, Gebhardt said he isn't going to say he did or didn't play a role in Coggins' murder.Gebhardt can also can be heard using the N-word several times when mentioning the victim.
"During the interview when the N-word was being said it was represented to me that he was smiling and looking at the family and it really upset them to the point that some of them were in tears," said Spalding County prosecutor Marie Broder.
"You have been observed trying to communicate with family members in the courtroom by gesturing or mouthing," said Judge Fletcher Sams. "It is inappropriate. It is making court security very nervous, too."
During the testimony and the playing of the interview, courtroom staff kept an eye on Gebhardt.
Jurors were dismissed for the weekend shortly before noon. Prosecutors said they expect to call two more witnesses Monday morning, and then the trial will be handed over to the defense.
Coggins' brutally beaten body was found near power lines off Minter Road in the town of Sunny Side in Spading County on Oct. 5, 1983. Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said Coggins was murdered after socializing with a white woman.
Investigators said the murder remained unsolved for years. In late 2017, the GBI reopened its investigation after receiving new leads. After new interviews, law enforcement officers were able to make five arrests which included a detention officer from Spalding County and a police officer from the town of Milner, located to the south of Griffin.
The Spalding County Sheriff's Office charged Milner Police Officer Lamar Bunn, his mother Sandra Bunn and Spalding County Detention Officer Gregory Huffman with obstruction in the case.
On Thursday, several witnesses day testified about their conversations with Gebhardt, with one witness alleging that Gebhardt said he threw the knife down a well.
Sanders alleged Gebhardt provided details of Coggins being stabbed, chained behind a vehicle and dragged down the road.
On Thursday afternoon, GBI agents testified about the excavation of a well last year on Gebhardt's Spalding County property. The knife from the murder was never recovered originally. The victim's top shirt, shoes and socks were also missing.
When the well was excavated, what appears to be part of a shirt, along with a burned shoe and sole were found. Also recovered was a wooden handle and two pieces of a knife blade.
The well was inside a shed and had been filled with trash and other items over the years.
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