Sentenced: Justice For Timothy Coggins Killed For Talking To A White Woman

[Sugar Cookie]

Two white men accused of murdering a 23-year-old black man in 1983 dragged him behind a truck and stabbed him to death because he'd been socializing with a white woman, prosecutors have claimed.

Frank Gebhert, 59, and William Moore Sr., 58, were arrested earlier this month on suspicion of murdering Timothy Coggins in Griffin, Georgia, in October 1983.

Three others were arrested for obstruction of justice.

At a bond hearing for Coggin's alleged killers on Wednesday, prosecutors told how Gebhert and Moore attacked Coggins in a race driven attack because he had been socializing with a white woman.

They allegedly dragged him behind a truck on Minter Road and stabbed him excessively and aggressively to 'send a message'.

The men, one of whom is now in a wheelchair, were able to get away with the crime for so long because people in the local community were terrified of speaking out against them, Coker added.

They finally were arrested earlier this month when police began receiving tips from individuals in the county about the pair.

Among them were acquaintances of the men who said they sometimes boasted about the killing.

Gebhert allegedly spoke about it when he drank and threatened anyone who spoke about it that he would drag them down the same road and kill them like he did Coggins, one person told police.

According to witnesses who spoke with police this year, the pair were known locally as a 'couple of bad guys' in the 1980s.

He believes people chose to finally speak out because the men are now older and more frail.

When witnesses began telling police what happened to Coggins, they remembered it vividly, he said.

'It was like they were reliving a movie. A lot of time when that happens, you just sit there. It was very powerful,' Sheriff Dix told AJC.

Prosecutors did not reveal who the woman Coggins was apparently killed over during the bond hearing.

Neither Gebhert nor his co-defendant have yet entered pleas.

Sandra Bunn, 61, and her son, Lamar, 32, were charged with obstruction of justice as was Gregory Huffman, 47.

The case remained cold for decades until they received a 'new piece of information' this summer.

Coggins family were in court for the hearing this week. They say the sudden rush of information is overwhelming after so many years of silence.

'It was very difficult hearing some of the things today, and seeing the defendants was very difficult as well,' Sandra Coggins, the man's niece, said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5043441/Timothy-Coggins-killed-socializing-white-woman.html

 

[Stormcloud]

... people are people. =/ That should be all that really matters, not skin colour or ethnicity. Long time ago, yeah, but still...out:

At least they've got the fuckers.

RIP Timothy Coggins.

 

[Norcal Skim]

Let's see, that's five more Trump supporters in jail.

 

[Sejanus]

It always astonishes me too think there are still communities like this.
Locked in the grip of fear from some buggers ruining life through intimidation.

Wretched old pricks need to share a cell for the rest of their days.
Surround them with black inmates who are well informed of their crime.

 

[Craygor]

Gebhert allegedly spoke about it when he drank and threatened anyone who spoke about it that he would drag them down the same road and kill them like he did Coggins, one person told police.

The easiest way for having me do something is threaten me not to do it.

 

[Sudonim]

Lamar, 32, were charged with obstruction of justice

What I want to know is why is someone who wasnt even born when this happened went out of his way as a cop to obstruct this case and why his mom would put him in that position?

Side note, there is a documentary on this case. I watched it umm..maybe 10 ish years ago? Something like that. In that documentary they name the woman and tell the back story. They also interview people from the town (who are plainly terrified) and these 2 suspects. They were extremely aggressive even on tv. Really wish I could remember the name of the documentary >.<

It should be noted that 2 of the 5 arrested are law enforcement and another is the mother of one of those cops. They expect more arrests.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

June 27, 2018

A Georgia man was convicted on Tuesday in the 1983 murder of a black man, in a killing that a prosecutor said was motivated by racial hatred after the victim socialized with a white woman.

Frankie Gebhardt, 60, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted by a jury of malice murder, felony murder and other counts for the death of 23-year-old Timothy Coggins.

Coggins was stabbed 30 times and dragged behind a pickup truck, and his body was found along a rural road in Spalding County on Oct. 9, 1983.

"We've waited for 34 years to even be here today," Coggins' niece, Heather Coggins, told reporters after the verdict. "We never thought that we would be here. We thought Tim had been forgotten."

Man sentenced to life in 1983 racially motivated killing in Georgia

"We never thought that we would be here. We thought Tim had been forgotten," Timothy Coggins' niece said after the verdict.

www.nbcnews.com

Aug. 17, 2018

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Bill Moore Sr. pleaded guilty to his involvement in the 1983 slaying of 23-year-old Timothy Coggins. Moore received a sentence of 30 years, with 20 to be served in prison.

Georgia man guilty in 1983 killing of black man who dated white woman

Bill Moore Sr. received a 30-year sentence for his role in the death of Timothy Coggins.

www.nbcnews.com