Arrest made in Sunday slaying of Austell man
Cobb County police investigating the apparent beating death of an Austell man on Sunday have charged a suspect who was found driving the dead man's car.
Shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, officers responding to a home in the 6400 block of Pisgah Road found the body of 71-year-old Joseph Stahl, Cobb police Sgt. Dana Pierce said.
Pierce said Stahl, who lived at the home, "had obvious injuries from blunt force trauma."
Just before 10 p.m., Thomas Sparks was arrested by Fulton County police as he attempted to leave the Skyway Inn Suites Hotel on Frederick Drive in the victim's 1994 Honda Accord.
Sparks, 47, of Austell, was charged with murder, aggravated assault and theft by taking, and is being held without bond in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
According to state Department of Correction records, Sparks has been convicted in the past for theft by receiving stolen property, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, burglary and escape.
