Double murder investigation focusing on drug activity at victim's north Fayette home

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Investigators working the north Fayette double murder case are focusing on illegal drug activity that occurred at David Mangham's residence, the lead detective on the case confirmed Thursday.

Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department said Mangham and Francis Michael Fowler of Ellenwood were both involved in illegal drug activity. Both men were found shot to death in Mangham's Princeton Chase home Monday morning.

"This is not a crime that we are going to be able to solve quickly because it involves people from other communities areas of Atlanta where people don't like to cooperate with police," Jordan said.

The drug angle is being pursued because the amount of money involved can be a motive to kill someone, Jordan said.

Fowler occasionally performed some auto body work for Mangham in a garage at the rear of the home, police said.

Although some homicides can't be solved, if this one can be solved, the department should be able to handle it, Jordan said.

All but one of the department's detectives have been assigned to the case daily, conducting interviews for the investigation, Jordan said. The one detective not working on the case for a particular day stays in the office to handle other cases, he added.

Earlier in the week, the department indicated that detectives were interested in illegal activity some of Mangham's friends might have been involved in. Mangham also had another "circle of friends" from church social activities, detectives noted.

Mangham's ex-girlfriend Terri Gilman of Fayetteville said his sister told her that police said Mangham might have been going for his gun to defend himself when he was killed. Police said Mangham's body was found in the master bedroom of the residence while Fowler was found in the kitchen area.

Mangham used to carry large amounts of cash with him because he "didn't trust banks" Gilman said.

Neighbors said Mangham would have a number of people over at his home working on cars at times. He would display his cars at shows at the GTO's Drive-In restaurant in Fayetteville, Gilman said.

"He just seemed to have a lot of friends," said B.T. Howell, who lives across the street from Mangham's residence.

"I just hope they find out who did it," a tearful Gilman said Monday evening.