Woman arrested for 2007 shooting death

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Authorities find gun used in murder Beth Alston

December 20, 2008

Beth Alston

ANDERSONVILLE — What is possibly a key component in solving a 15-month murder investigation was discovered mid-day Saturday by local authorities.

A Colt Cobra .38-caliber hand gun was found buried in a wooded lot next to a vacant house on Ga. Highway 228 just outside Andersonville.

Sumter County Sheriff Pete Smith said the weapon was located after developing leads in the investigation.

On Thursday afternoon, Mary Elizabeth Rogers, 44, of 436 Ga. Highway 228, Andersonville was arrested and charged with the murder of Demetrius Boone Sr., 28, of 1130 N. Jackson St., Americus in September 2007. Boone’s body was found off Les Smith Road in rural Macon County under the bridge over Buck Creek. Boone’s body was discovered by a passing motorist around 8 a.m. Sept. 2. The passerby notified the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.

Macon County Coroner Mickey Barfield told the Times-Recorder then that the body had been sent to the State Crime Lab in Atlanta for autopsy.

Danny Jackson, special agent in charge, Region III Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), said foul play was suspected.

Rogers was arrested at a residence at 414 Dupree Road in rural Sumter County by the Sheriff’s Office and assisted by the GBI and the Georgia State Patrol Tactical Unit. She was arrested without incident, according to the sheriff.

That address is the residence of Fred Goff, 69, who is currently in jail after having been arrested Dec. 4 on drug charges. At that time, authorities seized a substantial number of illegally possessed prescription pills, marijuana, weapons and cash at Goff’s residence.

Sheriff Pete Smith advised that Goff’s arrest was the culmination of a near-two-year investigation, with the assistance of the GBI. He also said this particular case is still under investigation, and that additional arrests are expected in regard to this illegal drug trafficking network.

With the arrest of Rogers and the discovery of the a weapon, authorities are encouraged.

“This brings to a close a case unsolved for 15 months,” the sheriff said. “Over the past nine months, the sheriff’s office investigative division, along with the GBI, were able to develop several leads in reference to this case. The past several weeks, both agencies worked very closely on this case both night and day to solve it.”

Smith said the investigation has determined that the homicide actually occurred inside the borders of Sumter County, and not in Macon County where the body was found.

For two days, authorities were conducting crime scene investigations at Rogers’ residence, Goff’s residence, and then the wooded lot where the gun was found.

The sheriff said Saturday that deputies and County inmates assisted in the search.

At the scene Saturday, GBI personnel — Brian Smith, crime scene specialist, and Lindsey Hooper, special agent — arrived to photograph and process what the sheriff and his chief investigator, Capt. Ralph Stuart had found.

Brian Smith said to the sheriff, “You have no idea how much we appreciate you on this, busting this case.”

Pete Smith responded, “It’s called cooperation.”

After digging up a box covered in duct tape, Brian Smith took the box to a table where he carefully removed the tape. Underneath was a green metal first aid kit and inside, nestled in what appeared to be an orange linen dinner napkin, lay the gun, somewhat corroded looking.

“The investigation is continuing,” the sheriff said. “There could be more arrests made depending on the evidence and forensics. The GBI is the lead investigative agency on this case ... Every day a murder is not solved, it becomes harder to solve ... People forget details, some want to forget, evidence is lost. We’re just glad to have recovered this weapon.”

Now that the gun has been recovered, it will go to the GBI lab for further analysis.

“What’s important is that the ballistics of this weapon match the ballistics of the bullets found in the victim’s body,” the sheriffs said. He said Boone had been shot “multiple times.”

Woman arrested for 2007 shooting death