August 16, 2018
Conviction in 1983 Cold Case Murder of Timothy Coggins
Griffin, GA (August 16, 2018) - On Thursday, August 16, 2018, in front of the Honorable W. Fletcher Sams, William “Bill” Moore, 58, pled guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter and Concealing the Death of Another for the murder of Timothy Coggins on October 7, 1983. Mr. Moore was sentenced to 20 years to serve, followed by 10 years on probation. He was also banished from the Griffin Judicial Circuit. The family of Timothy Coggins and law enforcement agreed with this guilty plea.
On June 26, 2018, a Spalding County jury convicted Moore’s co-defendant, Franklin Gebhardt, 59, for Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Battery, Aggravated Assault, and Concealing the Death of Another. Mr. Gebhardt was immediately sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison.
Timothy Coggins was brutally stabbed in a field off Minter Road in Sunnyside, GA, over 34 years ago. The original investigation in 1983 was closed after two months. The physical evidence collected at the crime scene was lost over the years. In December of 2016, the case was reinvestigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in which hundreds of interviews were conducted.
Witnesses interviewed alleged over the decades Gebhardt and Moore provided details of Coggins being stabbed, chained behind a vehicle and dragged in a field. Gebhardt also alleged he threw the knife used to stab Coggins down a well. The knife, the victim’s undershirt, shoes and socks were never recovered originally.
A Hydrovac system was utilized to excavate a well on Gebhardt’s property. It was the first time in the State of Georgia that such a system was used for well excavation. In the well, a white tank top, shoes, socks, a chain, and a knife were some of the items recovered. This evidence was presented to the jury.
Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Benjamin D. Coker and Chief Assistant District Attorney Marie Broder prosecuted the case. The lead investigators were GBI Special Agent Jared Coleman and Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mike Morris.
In addition, a special thanks to the following personnel for their efforts: the GBI Crime Lab, the GBI West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit, the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, and the Spalding County Fire Department.