U.S. Man Who Lived Abroad With Family's Nanny Is Charged in Wife's Murder

New York Times

24-05-2025

After arriving at the family business in Douglas, Ga., and finding his wife fatally shot on Sept. 20, 2006, Jon Worrell called 911 and crumpled to the ground in sobs.
His wife, Doris Worrell, was 39 when she was killed. The couple had three children.
She died of a gunshot to the head at their business, Jon's Sports Park, amid its arcade, batting cage, go-kart track and mini-golf course. It was a recreational destination for families in that rural part of southern Georgia, about 130 miles southwest of Savannah.
With such a backdrop, investigators and others in the city of about 12,000 first thought that Mr. Worrell was as he appeared, a devastated husband.
The authorities said they initially believed that Ms. Worrell died in a bungled robbery attempt or by someone in retaliation for being barred from the amusement park by Mr. Worrell.
But on Friday they said they had no doubts that he was behind her death.
'Jon instigated a conspiracy to commit this murder,' said Jason Seacrist, the lead agent on the case for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Mr. Worrell, 57, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery. He was denied bond during his first court appearance on Friday. He did not have a lawyer present.
'We know Jon was not there,' Mr. Seacrist said at a news conference on Friday, explaining that the authorities have yet to determine who shot Ms. Worrell.
Two men, who had been park employees, were arrested 17 years ago for conspiracy to kill Ms. Worrell. But, Mr. Seacrist said, the charges were dropped after several weeks because of a lack of evidence. One of the men has since died and the other was recently released from prison in an unrelated case, he said.
The investigation into Ms. Worrell's killing had gone cold until investigators traveled to Costa Rica and found the family's former live-in nanny, who was willing to cooperate.
The information she gave corroborated evidence that the authorities had been collecting for years, they said. That led to Mr. Worrell's arrest at his home in Maryville, Mo., on Tuesday.
Sheriff Fred Cole of Coffee County, Ga., said on Friday that he felt relieved.
'This case was never forgotten,' he said. 'And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice.'
In 2006, the Worrells had a live-in nanny from Venezuela, Paola Yarberry, who also worked at Jon's Sports Park. Ms. Yarberry, who was 18 when Ms. Worrell was killed, was working in another area of the park on the day she died, officials said.
Investigators soon learned that the Worrells were having marital issues, some of which were caused by what Mr. Seacrest described as Mr. Worrell's 'inappropriate relationship' with Ms. Yarberry.
Investigators said that Mr. Worrell worried that a divorce would cause him to lose access to his children. He then began looking for someone to kill his wife, they said.
Several months after the killing, Ms. Yarberry, who was not a U.S. citizen, was arrested in connection to her immigration status. She spent months at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center before being deported to Venezuela.
A district attorney in Georgia said at the time of her arrest that he believed that she was withholding information crucial to a murder investigation and that Mr. Worrell had become the main suspect.
Investigators said that Mr. Worrell moved in 2007 to Florida, where he lived briefly, and then to Costa Rica in 2008.
Ms. Yarberry soon joined Mr. Worrell in Costa Rica, where they ran an ice-selling business as they lived together as a couple for years and raised the three Worrell children.
Investigators pursued leads, domestically and internationally, and they learned in the last few years that Mr. Worrell and Ms. Yarberry had ended their romantic relationship, and that Mr. Worrell had moved back to the United States. He bought a home in Maryville, Mo., in March, according to property records.
Investigators said they reviewed the case again, and went to Costa Rica, where Ms. Yarberry eventually cooperated, giving them the breakthrough they had sought almost two decades ago.
They said that they do not consider her a suspect. They did not disclose what critical information Ms. Yarberry had revealed to help the investigation. She could not be located on Saturday for comment.
Speaking at the news conference on Friday, Ms. Worrell's sister, LeAnn Tuggle, remembered her as a generous person.
'Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,' Ms. Tuggle said, pointing to Ms. Worrell welcoming Ms. Yarberry into her home.
'Paola did not have a place to stay,' Ms. Tuggle said. 'She was by herself. She was about 14 or 15 years old, and my sister said, 'Sure, you can stay on our sofa.' Well, the nights on the sofa got longer. She stayed longer.'
'Her being kind is ultimately what caused her death.'