Photo: Coffee County Sheriff’s Office
Years after Edith Carole Sheffield was found dead in 2013, her husband has been arrested in her death, PEOPLE confirms.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced ina news releaseon Saturday that Timothy Larue Sheffield was arrested on Friday. He was charged with murder, aggravated assault, arson, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and was taken to Coffee County Jail.
The suspect’s lawyer did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment. At the time, the attorney denied that Timothy was involved in the death.
On January 18, 2013, deputies and fire officials responded to a house fire in Broxton, Georgia. Edith’s body was found in the house after the fire was put out.
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Edith, whose body was identified through dental records, was 49 at the time of her death. Though the medical examiner declared her death a homicide, questions have abounded for years as the investigation appeared stymied.
“Are we close to solving the case?” GBI special agent Mark Pro commented to theJournal-Constitutionin 2017. “I’d say we’re probably as close as we were when it occurred.”
Pro told the newspaper at the time that police had not ruled out Timothy as a suspect. “He was one of the last people to see her alive. He lived at the residence, and he was near the residence at the time,” he said. “So we can’t really exclude him.”
According to theJournal-Constitution, Timothy told police that, on the night of the homicide, Edith called him to say that she was leaving work late. Timothy said that he went to a mobile home he owned and learned through a call from a neighbor that his house was on fire.
source: people.com
