Sheriff says new evidence could be best clue in 10 years to finding who killed Lake Oconee couple

OCONEE COUNTY, Ga. — The Putnam County Sheriff is calling it the best evidence he has had in 10 years in the mysterious killing of a couple in a Lake Oconee neighborhood.

Deputies have followed hundreds of leads, but until now they have all led nowhere to crack the cold case of the brutal murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond in 2014.

Neighbors found Russell’s decapitated body inside the garage behind one of the couple’s cars, with the 88-year-old’s head nowhere to be found.

Shirley Dermond’s body was found in Lake Oconee after someone apparently tried to weigh it down. The sheriff said she died of blunt force trauma.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills has obtained a piece of clothing that belonged to Russell Dermond that had DNA from an unknown individual on it.

Sills says that he has ordered more testing to be done. The lab that did the testing is Ortham Labs in Woodlands, Texas.

Sills is quick to point out that no suspect has been identified in the case, but the new evidence could go a long way to finding out who killed the couple.