A 63-year-old Alabama man was arrested last week for the murder of Georgia pharmacist Julie Ann McDonald, who was found dead in her home on June 11, 2000.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Clerence George was arrested at this home in Birmingham and was being held in the Jefferson County jail pending extradition to Georgia. He is charged with murder and aggravated assault.
The GBI said the case was reopened in 2015 and again in 2023, with the latest efforts delivering evidence that led to George’s arrest.
Walker County, Georgia, Sheriff Steve Wilson told reporters at a news conference that McDonald, 43, had been stabbed multiple times and was likely dead for three to four days when her body was found in her home in Lafayette, about 100 miles northwest of Atlanta, according to The Associated Press.
George, an acquaintance of McDonald’s, was among the suspects in the murder after he was found with her checkbook, but authorities did not initially have enough solid evidence to make an arrest.
“There was some really good work done here and not all of it was scientific,” GBI Special Agent In Charge Joe Calhoun said. “There was some leg work and door-knocking. The GBI never stops working on unsolved cases. There was a tremendous effort by these investigators, who sometimes ran into a brick wall, but they kept going.”
Wilson said that many of McDonald’s relatives had died in the intervening time since her death, but authorities notified a niece and nephew.
The biggest gratification I’ve seen in working these cold cases is giving the family some relief knowing that someone has been found guilty in a court of law by their peers and that someone is held accountable for a death that was totally unnecessary,” he said. “There’s some sense of relief that the family can put it behind them and go on.’’
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[Featured image: Clerence George/Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Julie Ann McDonald/Georgia Bureau of Investigation]
