Friday, February 28, 2003
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Friday, February 28, 2003 |
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Fayette not dropping murder charge on 25-year-old case By JOHN MUNFORD Although DeKalb County authorities have filed murder charges against Carl J. Patton Jr. for the death of a woman whose body was found in Fayette's Flint River 25 years ago, local authorities aren't dropping the case against him here. Maj. Bruce Jordan, director of investigations for the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, said he wanted to be sure DeKalb had a solid case against Patton first. Jordan said his investigation revealed the murder of Liddie L. Evans likely occurred at Patton's former residence on Ward Lake Road in DeKalb County, as did the murder of her boyfriend, Joe Cleveland. "I have always said I would work my way right off of this case," Jordan said recently. Although a person can be tried for murder in the county where the body was discovered, if the location of the killing can be proved the trial should likely take place there instead, officials said. Patton is charged with malice murder. Evans's body was found in the Flint after the body of another alleged Patton murder victim, Betty Jo Ephlin, was found by a duck hunter. Evans' leg was chained to a concrete block. Patton was a childhood friend of Cleveland and a nephew of a fourth alleged person he killed, Fred Wyatt. Fayette County Sheriff Randall Johnson, who had only been in office for 11 months at the time Evans' body was discovered in December 1977, originally arrested Patton days after the murder. Patton was later released after then-district attorney Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. indicated there wasn't enough evidence to hold him on murder charges. A new break in the case came in December as Jordan followed a lead to the evidence room of the Clayton County Police Department, which initially investigated the Cleveland and Ephlin homicides. DNA tests of certain evidence provided enough evidence to charge Patton a second time with Evans's murder, the sheriff said.
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