Left: Jon Worrell (Coffee County Jail). Right: Doris Worrell (Georgia Bureau of Investigation).
In Georgia, police apprehended a man suspected of planning his wife’s murder at his sports park before fleeing with the family nanny to Costa Rica, according to law enforcement.
Jon Worrell, 58, faces charges including malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and aggravated assault for the killing of his 39-year-old wife, Doris Worrell, who was shot nearly 20 years ago. Authorities might not have solved the case if the nanny hadn’t started cooperating after their relationship ended and Worrell returned to the U.S., the Georgia Bureau of Investigation stated in a press release.
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The murder happened on September 20, 2006, at Jon’s Sports Park in Douglas, located in southern Georgia. Initially, investigators from the GBI and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office thought Jon Worrell was a mourning husband and considered his wife’s death a result of a robbery gone wrong or retribution for removing a customer from the premises.
But as the investigation progressed it became apparent that all was not as it seemed. Cops learned the Worrells were having marital issues and that Jon was having an affair with the then 18-year-old nanny, who had moved in the family two or three years prior. He wanted to divorce his wife but feared he would lose custody of their three children who were all under the age of 12 at the time, cops said. So he allegedly concocted a scheme to have her killed.
Jon Worrell recruited Glidden Rodriguez and Brandon Cage who were later arrested for conspiracy to commit the murder, according to cops. However, investigators dropped the charges for a lack of evidence and they have never been re-arrested. Rodriguez has since died.
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After his wife’s death, Jon Worrell moved to Florida and later to Costa Rica where his lover nanny joined him after she was deported from the United States in part because she refused to give up critical information about the homicide, per cops. The pair raised Jon and Doris’ children together.
In recent years, however, Jon Worrell and the nanny ended their relationship. Detectives traveled to Costa Rica hoping the spurned lover may give up that relevant information. She did just that. With her statement, investigators had what they needed to make an arrest. Cops took the suspect into custody at his home in Missouri.
“I want to be clear: This case has never been forgotten,” Coffee County Sheriff Fred Cole said in a statement. “While the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice. Today we honor Doris and her loved ones with this long awaited breakthrough.”
The arrest also should serve as a warning to other murderers who think they may be able to escape justice just because years have passed since their killing, officials said
“This investigation should also give hope to the families of victims in other cold cases that the answers they seek are still being sought,” said GBI Special Agent in Charge Jason Seacrist. “It should produce fear and sleepless nights for the offenders in other cold cases because law enforcement will not stop looking for you. It should bring pride and confidence in the communities we serve, knowing that law enforcement has not forgotten and will continue to investigate these cases, no matter how long it takes.”
Doris Worrell’s sister LeAnn Tuggle told local CBS affiliate WMAZ her suspicion grew on her former brother-in-law when he and the kids moved out of the country and wouldn’t tell them where they went.
“Why would he pick up his family and move and why would he not let us know his location when he moved out of the country? Things like that didn’t add up,” she said.
Tuggle said her sister should remembered not by her death, but from her kindness.
“She was the sweetest, the absolute sweetest person anyone could have known,” she said.
The suspect waived extradition and was transported to the Coffee County Jail where he’s being held without bond.
