A man from Alabama arrested for Cold Case Murder of Georgia Pharmacist

Alabama: Julie Ann McDonald, a Georgia pharmacist, was found dead in her house on June 11, 2000, and her murder was linked to a 63-year-old Alabama man who was taken into custody this week. Clerence George was being held in the Jefferson County jail pending extradition to Georgia, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, after he was apprehended at this Birmingham residence. Murder and aggravated assault are the charges brought against him.

The FBI claimed that after the case was revived in 2015 and 2023, new efforts produced evidence that eventually resulted in George’s apprehension. At a news conference, Walker County, Georgia, Sheriff Steve Wilson informed reporters that McDonald, 43, had been stabbed several times and was probably dead for three to four days when her body was discovered in her Lafayette, Georgia, home, around 100 miles northwest of Atlanta.

After being discovered with McDonald’s checkbook, George, a friend of the restaurant owner, was named as one of the murder suspects; however, at first, there was insufficient evidence for the police to charge George. GBI Special Agent In Charge Joe Calhoun stated, “Some really good work was done here and not all of it was scientific.” “Some door knocking and leg work was done. Unsolved cases are never abandoned by the GBI. These detectives put up an amazing amount of work; even though they occasionally hit a brick wall, they persisted.

A niece and nephew were informed by the police, however Wilson stated that many of McDonald’s relatives had passed away in the interim following her passing. Working these cold cases has given me the most satisfaction because it allows the family to have a little bit of closure knowing that someone was held accountable for a completely avoidable death and that they were found guilty in a court of law by their peers, he added. “The family can move past it and move on, which gives them a certain sense of relief.”