Kathleen Bass’ remains were found on the side of a busy road in July 2020. Officials said she’d been dead for a month.
A pizza box found at the scene helped solve the case and James Lee Griffin, 60, of Lithonia has been sentenced to life plus 10 years in prison, officials said Tuesday.
Griffin was found guilty on Friday of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another person in the fatal stabbing of Bass, 39, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced.
Prosecutors did not share the nature of the relationship between Bass and Griffin.
At the time, a construction worker stumbled upon a blue container at the intersection of Lithonia Industrial Boulevard and Hillandale Drive. It had a foul stench emanating from it, and a worker used his construction equipment to move it, revealing what appeared to be human body parts wrapped up in sheets, according to authorities.
After media coverage, two anonymous tipsters linked the remains to Bass, who had been missing for over a month, and encouraged detectives to look into Griffin. A bag of trash found near Bass’ remains included a pizza box with a receipt that included Griffin’s name, phone number and the address of an apartment, located just over a mile from the construction site. Authorities responded to the address and found it appeared to have been “haphazardly vacated.”
A heavy smell of bleach wafted from the bedroom, and investigators noted what appeared to be large blood stains on the carpet that someone had tried to clean, authorities said. Smaller blood smears were also found that matched the DNA of both Griffin and Bass.
Investigators later discovered that Griffin had moved to Arkansas to begin a new job driving a truck after vacating his apartment, prosecutors said. He was arrested on Sept. 17, 2020, when he returned to Lithonia to check in with his bonding agency in a separate case.
During the trial, it was revealed that Bass had not been seen or heard from after a witness dropped her off to see Griffin in the early morning hours of June 12. Phone records matched the witness’ testimony, and a neighbor’s security camera footage showed Griffin leaving his apartment days later, dragging a blue container identical to the one found at the construction site, officials said.
After an examination of Bass’ remains, officials determined that she’d been stabbed with a knife, according to prosecutors.
