Who killed Timothy Coggins?
It’s been the question on investigators’ minds since the 23-year-old’s body was discovered on a power line on Minter Road in the small city of Sunny Side on Oct. 9, 1983.
Now, nearly 34 years later, Spalding County deputies think they are close to cracking what they consider to be a hate crime case.
“We believe that there are people with pertinent information regarding this case that are still out there and we are asking them to come forward,” Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a Facebook post.
Investigators began re-examining the case after receiving new information in June, Dix said. The Spalding sheriff’s office has been working with the GBI and the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office to re-interview old witnesses and re-examine old evidence.
“We have been in contact with a representative from Coggins’ family and they have been briefed on where we are at in the investigation,” Dix said. “Unfortunately, both of his parents are deceased, and we wish we would have been able to give them closure before they passed away.”
The initial investigation hit a snag when those suspected of being involved in the homicide threatened and intimidated potential witnesses, Dix said.
He said those connected to the homicide, which he said would classify as a hate crime in 2017, have believed they would “remain untouched.” Dix did not go into specifics about the case, and did not say why the case would be considered a hate crime.
“This man died a horrible death and those responsible need to be held accountable,” Dix said.
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