Background: The Putnam County Sheriff”s Office’s headquarters in Cookeville, Tennessee (Google Maps). Inset: Lora Morgan (Putnam County Sheriff’s Office).
In a tragic incident in Tennessee, a woman stands accused of a heinous crime involving the death of another woman, whose body was subsequently abandoned in a field. The suspect, Lora Morgan, age 57, faces severe charges including first-degree murder, corpse abuse, and evidence tampering, as confirmed by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. Morgan is currently detained in the Putnam County Jail, with her bond set at $820,000.
The victim, identified as Samantha Goolsby, became entangled in a deadly altercation with Morgan at a residence in Cookeville, Tennessee. Although the specifics of their dispute remain undisclosed by authorities, it reportedly escalated to violence as Goolsby attempted to leave the premises. According to an affidavit shared by Nashville’s NBC affiliate WSMV, Morgan allegedly shot Goolsby as she was exiting the home.
Shockingly, after the fatal incident, Morgan is said to have left Goolsby’s body at the scene for over a day before relocating it to a nearby field. The situation came to light when, around noon on Wednesday, Goolsby was reported missing by a concerned family member after she failed to return home the previous night.
This development took a grim turn later that day when a property owner on Phy Road, north of Cookeville, discovered a partially hidden body along the edge of their property. Upon being notified, deputies arrived and confirmed that the remains belonged to Goolsby, bringing a tragic close to the search for the missing woman.
Around noon on Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said a family member of Goolsby reported that she was missing after failing to come home the night before. Roughly four hours later, investigators were contacted again.
A homeowner on Phy Road — just north of Cookeville — called deputies and told them that “they had found a partially concealed body in the wood line on their property.” Investigators responded and determined the body to be that of Goolsby.
Deputies learned that a “domestic dispute had taken place” the previous day.
Law&Crime reached out to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in an attempt to learn the relationship between Morgan and Goolsby but was told that no more information could be released during an active investigation.
Deputies arrested Morgan, who they say “confessed to shooting and killing” the victim. The suspect also reportedly said she used wipes to clean up the crime scene on Wednesday.
Morgan was taken into the custody of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. She is scheduled to appear in court on April 20.
Cookeville is located in central Tennessee, about 80 miles east of Nashville.
