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Sheriff's Office says 34 year-old cold case close to being solved

The Spalding County Sheriff's Office says arrests could soon be made in connection to a cold case murder that took place in the county in October of 1983.

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By
WGCL Digital Team
SPALDING COUNTY, GA — The Spalding County Sheriff's Office says arrests could soon be made in connection to a cold case murder that took place in the county in October of 1983.

The department, along with the GBI, reopened the case in June of 2017 after new information was uncovered in the murder of Timothy Coggins on October 9, 1983 in the community of Sunnyside.

The agencies have been working since the case was reopened, re-interviewing witnesses, examining old information and gathering new evidence and say they believe they're close to making an arrest in the case.

Coggins' body was found on a power line off of Minter Road in what the Sheriff's Office calls a "horrible death." Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix stated that "without a doubt, if Coggins would have been murdered today, it would have been classified as a hate crime".

Dix also said that those responsible for Coggins' death believed they "would have remained untouched until literally just days ago".

In the Facebook post, Sheriff Dix continued, "We understand that over the years those suspected of being involved in the murder of Timothy Coggins have threatened and intimidated potential witnesses. 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".

If you have any information regarding the case, you're asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or the Spalding County Sheriff's Office.

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