After shooting and killing two men inside his house in August 2021, Joshua Wayne Nutt took their jewelry and other possessions from their dead bodies, spray-painted one of their motorcycles and stole it before returning to dump their bodies in West Point Lake, according to investigators.
Nutt claimed he didn’t know how the two men died. He was already on parole after previously serving time in state prison following convictions in Clayton, DeKalb and Floyd counties and has been affiliated with the Ghostface Gangsters.
He tried to clean up the evidence, including ripping off drywall and burning items, that showed he killed Marcus Lee Caswell Jr., 46, and Travis Michael Lodato, 31, both of Newnan. But Nutt couldn’t hide the blood and DNA in his home belonging to the victims.
On Tuesday, a jury convicted the 41-year-old — also known as Joshua Wayne Bradley — of two counts of malice murder, six counts of felony murder, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of use of firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of another felony and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford. Nutt was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, followed by an additional 40 years.
“This defendant is a cold-blooded murderer who deserves to die in prison,” Cranford said in a statement. “He chose to live a life of crime, marked by multiple felony convictions in multiple Georgia counties and by his association with the violent criminal street gang known as the Ghostface Gangsters. I am thankful that justice was done for these victims and their families.”
Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections
Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections
Investigators believe that on Aug. 7, 2021, Caswell and Lodato went to Nutt’s home to collect on a debt. Nutt wasn’t home, but he contacted Caswell and made arrangements for the two men to return the following day.
They spent several hours at Nutt’s home before they were killed, according to investigators. Nutt shot Caswell once in the rear of the base of his skull and shot Lodato five times, including once in the head.
A day later, a fisherman discovered Caswell’s body in West Point Lake, and the following day, a boater found Lodato’s body.
Nutt has been in Washington State Prison since Dec. 30, 2021, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. His arrest in the Troup case violated his parole. He previously served from January 2001 until November 2010 and from October 2015 until March 2018, records show.
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