Authorities have arrested and charged a man in a 24-year-old LaFayette homicide cold case, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Friday morning.
Clerence D. George, 63, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Jefferson County, Alabama, on outstanding warrants and charged with murder and aggravated assault in the death of Julie Ann McDonald, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The Birmingham, Alabama, resident is being held in the Jefferson County Jail awaiting extradition to Walker County.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office / Clerence D. George
Walker County Sheriff’s Office / Clerence D. George in 2000McDonald was found dead in her LaFayette home on June 11, 2000. An autopsy showed she died from multiple stab wounds, the release said.
The Jefferson County website showed George is being held without bond.
The investigation found that McDonald and George knew each other before the homicide, the release said.
An attorney for George could not immediately be reached.
COLD CASE
McDonald, a Chattanooga pharmacist, was found dead, tied to a chair in her living room with a telephone cord around her neck and multiple stab wounds.
An autopsy determined that McDonald had been dead for three or four days when she was found, the Chattanooga Times Free Press previously reported. Law enforcement did not have access to modern investigative capabilities, including DNA testing and trace evidence detection, Burt Cagle, then a captain with the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, told the Times Free Press in 2020.
Walker County Sheriff’s Office / Julie Ann McDonaldDays after the homicide was discovered, George and Alphonso Pitts were arrested by Catoosa County sheriff’s deputies for allegedly bringing stolen property into the state. George told sheriff’s deputies he used some of McDonald’s checks days after she was found, but it could not be determined if he had her permission.
George and Pitts were interviewed by law enforcement soon after but were not charged due to lack of evidence.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.