A 59-year-old Paulding County woman has been charged with felony murder in the death of her husband, whose body was found Saturday after a house fire.
Jeanie Rebecca Caldwell was being held in the Paulding County Detention Center without bond, accused of killing 64-year-old Billy Gene Caldwell, sheriff’s office spokesman Cpl. Ashley Henson said Wednesday. He said she also will be charged with arson.
Paulding firefighters found a body inside after they got to a burning residence on Old Hiram Road in Dallas around 4 p.m. Saturday and began to extinguish the fire. It was identified as the homeowner’s after detectives, GBI agents and state fire marshal’s officers arrived and witnesses and relatives were interviewed.
Authorities determined Billy Caldwell died from a gunshot to the back of the head and was burned in the fire, Henson told 95.5 FM and AM 750 News/Talk WSB. The GBI crime lab’s autopsy later confirmed it was a homicide, Henson said.
“We knew from the beginning, once we had determined there was a body inside the residence, we knew that something wasn’t right,” Henson said.
Jeanie Caldwell was found in the woods away from the residence when authorities searched the area, he said. She was interviewed by detectives and charged with felony murder.
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