A registered Georgia sex offender was found hanging in his jail cell Friday night, a day after he was charged with his ex-wife's murder.
Charles Michael Patrick, 72, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found around 10 p.m. Friday in his isolation cell at the Gilmer County jail. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating Patrick’s death and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday, officials said.
Patrick had been arrested Thursday, the same day officials from the GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office found remains believed to belong to his ex-wife, Drusilla Patrick, on his Ellijay property.
The last time Drusilla Patrick had been seen alive was in Dec. 2016 or Jan. 2017, officials said. An autopsy determined she had been shot.
The remains were found after a probation officer supervising Charles Patrick became concerned about the woman’s whereabouts and notified authorities.
Charles Patrick — who had remarried, having divorced Drusilla in 1970 — purportedly gave conflicting statements about his ex’s whereabouts.
“The investigation further revealed that Charles Patrick had given a variety of reasons for Drusilla Patrick’s absence to several different people, each contradictory to the other,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.
It was not immediately clear specifically when — or why — Drusilla Patrick may have been killed.
Know what's really going on with crime and public safety in your metro Atlanta community, including breaking news, trial coverage, trends and the latest on unsolved cases. Sign up for the AJC's crime and safety newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox.
In other news:
