Latest news with #JonWorrell
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Arrest made in 19-year-old murder with help from local law enforcement
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Northwest Missouri law enforcement played a key role in the recent arrest of a man accused of killing his wife nearly two decades ago in Georgia. In a news release, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced the arrest of Jon Worrell, a resident of Maryville, Missouri. Worrell was taken into custody at his home without incident. On September 20, 2006, Worrell's former wife, Doris Worrell, was found shot inside the couple's family-owned business in Georgia. The investigation later revealed Jon Worrell had been having an affair with the couple's then-18-year-old nanny, Paola Yarberry. In recent years, Yarberry began cooperating with authorities, significantly contributing to Worrell's arrest. Sheriff Cole with the Coffee County Sheriff's Office and Investigator Julian with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation contacted us, the Nodaway County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, saying they were close to obtaining an arrest warrant for the suspect involved in this cold case," said Nodaway County Sheriff Austin Hann. "They knew him to be in Nodaway County and once the warrant was secured, we all worked together on an operations plan." Worrell's arrest comes just one month after the launch of Governor Kehoe's Operation Relentless Pursuit, a Missouri initiative targeting fugitives with outstanding felony warrants. According to state law enforcement, 148 fugitives have been arrested or assisted in arrest through the operation, 112 directly by ORP officers and 36 in collaboration with other agencies. These arrests cleared 251 outstanding warrants. "This is an excellent opportunity to showcase our ability to work together in Northwest Missouri and the state as a whole," Hann said. "No agency can do everything alone. I give full credit to Coffee County and the Georgia agencies; they did the legwork and we supported them where we could." The arrest of Worrell involved multiple agencies: the GBI, Coffee County Sheriff's Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, Nodaway County Sheriff's Office, and the Maryville Department of Public Safety. Worrell is charged with malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery in connection with his wife's death. While some murder cases can remain unsolved for years, law enforcement stresses that cold cases are never forgotten. "One thing people should remember is that even the smallest piece of information can be what cracks a case," Hann added. "In this case, it just took one person coming forward to change the direction of the investigation. According to the GBI, the investigation remains active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at (912) 389-4103 or the Coffee County Sheriff's Office at (912) 384-4227.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Husband arrested 19 years after wife's murder as nanny he ran off with turns on him
Police have arrested a husband in connection with the 2006 death of his wife. Jon Worrell, 58, was detained in Missouri on Tuesday and charged in relation to the death of his wife Doris, 39, the Georgia Bureau Of Investigation announced this week. Officials said the breakthrough came in April when investigators traveled to Costa Rica and spoke with the family's former live-in nanny - with whom Worrell apparently pursued a relationship following his wife's death. His arrest marked an end to nearly two decades of investigation in which authorities pursued leads in both the U.S. and overseas. Police had initially believed Doris's murder was the result of a botched robbery or was retaliation by someone who had been banned from Worrell's Sports Park in rural Douglas, Georgia. They had also believed Worrell was a loving, grieving husband who had fallen to the ground crying when he found his wife's body that morning, the New York Times reported. He had told officers at the time that he left the sports park at around 9.40am to run errands while his wife stayed back to clean - and when he returned at around 11.15am, he found her dead. But authorities with GBI and the Coffee County Sheriff's Office now say they are confident Worrell set up the murder amid marital issues. Some of those issues were apparently caused by his 'inappropriate relationship' with their nanny, who was just 18 years old at the time, Jason Seacrist, the lead agent on the case for GBI said. Authorities claimed Worrell worried a divorce would cause him to lose his children - and decided to try to find someone to kill is wife. The murder was committed in an area of the park that did not have surveillance coverage, according to FOX 5. Their nanny, Venezuelan national Paola Yarberry, was also seen on surveillance footage working at a different section of the park. She is not considered a suspect in Doris's murder - and it remains unclear who may have fired the fatal shot. Two employees of the venue were charged with being conspirators to her murder in 2008, but the case was later dropped for lack of evidence. Shortly after, investigators learned the couple were having marital problems and began to suspect Worrell may have been more involved in the murder than he initially let on. Around the time, Yarberry was arrested for living in the U.S. illegally, and spent months at an Immigration And Customs Enforcement detention center before being deported back to Venezuela. A district attorney in Georgia at the time tried to protest her deportation, saying he believed she was withholding information crucial to the murder investigation, the Times reported. Still, Yarberry was sent out of the U.S. - and soon Worrell moved his family to Florida and then to Cosa Rica, where Yarberry joined them. There, police say, they raised the three Worrell children and ran an ice-selling business as investigators in Georgia kept tabs on them. Eventually, they learned that the couple had broken up and Worrell moved back to the U.S. At that point, investigators reviewed the case again and traveled to Costa Rica, where they said Yarberry provided them with information that corroborated evidence the Georgia Bureau Of Investigation had collected over the years. Sheriff Fred Cole insisted: 'This case was never forgotten. And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice.' Worrell was arrested at his home in Mayfield, Missouri, north of Kansas City. He waived extradition to Georgia and arrived at the Coffee County jail late on Thursday. He was denied bond the next day. Doris's sister, LeAnn Tuggle, thanked investigators for their persistence at the news conference on Friday. She recalled her sister as a gifted artist who worked as a teacher and an interior designer before she became a stay-at-home mom. Tuggle also noted she agreed to let the Yarberry live at her home because the young woman had nowhere else to stay. Tuggle said: 'Sometimes she was too kind for her own good. 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,' the sister said, noting that Doris 'being kind is ultimately what caused her death'. She added to WALB that she now hopes Worrell's arrest will lead to family reconciliation. 'One day they'll see what I'm saying now and hopefully, we can be together again,' she said of Doris's three children. She added: 'There won't be any hard feelings. We've missed them, we've prayed for them and we want to see them.' Worrell has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and aggravated battery.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Daily Mail
'Killer' husband is finally arrested 19 years after teacher wife's murder as nanny he ran off with turns on him
Nearly 20 years after a former teacher and mother-of-three was found shot dead at the sports park she operated with her husband, police say they have found her killer. Jon Worrell, 58, was arrested in Missouri on Tuesday and was charged with malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery in the September 20, 2006 death of his wife Doris, 39, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced this week. They said the big break came in April, when investigators traveled to Costa Rica and spoke with the family's former live-in nanny - with whom Jon apparently pursued a relationship following his wife's death. His arrest on Tuesday - which came just two days after what would have been Doris' 57th birthday, according to WALB - marked an end to nearly two decades of investigation in which authorities pursued leads in both the United States and overseas. Police had initially believed Doris' murder was the result of a botched robbery or was retaliation by someone who had been banned from Jon's Sports Park in rural Douglas, Georgia. They had also believed Jon was a loving, grieving husband who had fallen to the ground crying when he found his wife's body that morning, the New York Times reports. He had told officers at the time that he left the sports park at around 9.40am to run errands while his wife stayed back to clean - and when he returned at around 11.15am, he found she had been shot dead. But authorities with GBI and the Coffee County Sheriff's Office now say they are confident Jon set up the murder amid marital issues - some of which were apparently caused by his 'inappropriate relationship' with their nanny, who was just 18 years old at the time, Jason Seacrist, the lead agent on the case for GBI said at a news conference. Authorities claimed Jon worried a divorce would cause him to lose his children - and decided to try to find someone to kill is wife. The murder was committed in an area of the park that did not have surveillance coverage, according to FOX 5. Their nanny, Venezuelan national Paola Yarberry, was also seen on surveillance footage working at a different section of the park. She is not considered a suspect in Doris' murder - and it remains unclear who may have fired the fatal shot. Two employees of the sports park were charged with being conspirators to her murder in 2008, but the case was dropped weeks later for lack of evidence. Shortly after, Seacrist said, investigators first learned the Worrells were having marital problems and began to suspect Jon may have been more involved in the murder than he initially let on. But around that time, Yarberry was arrested for living in the United States illegally, and spent months at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center before she was deported back to Venezuela. A district attorney in Georgia at the time tried to protest her deportation, saying he believed she was withholding information crucial to the murder investigation, the Times reports. Still, Yarberry was sent out of the United States - and soon Jon moved his family to Florida and then to Cosa Rica, where Yarberry joined them. There, police say, they raised the three Worrell children and ran an ice-selling business as investigators in Georgia kept tabs on them. Eventually, they learned that the couple had broken up and Jon moved back to the United States. At that point, investigators reviewed the case again and traveled to Costa Rica, where they said Yarberry provided them with information that corroborated evidence the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had collected over the years. 'This case was never forgotten,' Sheriff Fred Cole insisted. 'And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice.' Worrell was arrested Tuesday at his home in Mayfield, Missouri, north of Kansas City. He waived extradition to Georgia and arrived at the Coffee County jail late Thursday. He was denied bond the next day. Doris' sister, LeAnn Tuggle, thanked investigators for their persistence at the news conference on Friday. She recalled her sister as a gifted artist who worked as a teacher and an interior designer before she became a stay-at-home mom. Tuggle also noted she agreed to let the Yarberry live at her home because the young woman had nowhere else to stay. 'Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,' Tuggle said, explaining that Yarberry 'did not have a place to stay. 'She was by herself. She was about 14 or 15 years old and my sister said "Sure, you can stay on our sofa,"' Tuggle recounted. 'Well the nights on the sofa got longer. She stayed longer,' the grieving sister said, noting that Doris 'being kind is ultimately what caused her death.' She added to WALB that she now hopes Jon's arrest will lead to family reconciliation. 'One day they'll see what I'm saying now and hopefully, we can be together again,' she said of Doris' three children. 'There won't be any hard feelings. We've missed them, we've prayed for them and we want to see them.'
CNN
24-05-2025
- CNN
Georgia man who fled with the nanny after his wife's killing is charged with murder 19 years later
Crime South America Gun violenceFacebookTweetLink Follow Investigators first believed Doris Worrell was killed in a botched robbery after her husband found her fatally shot at the South Georgia business they ran in 2006. When suspicion later turned toward Worrell's husband, he fled the US to live in Costa Rica with the couple's live-in nanny. Nearly 19 years later, Jon Worrell was jailed on murder charges Thursday in rural Coffee County, where the sheriff said authorities never gave up on the cold case. They got a big break in April, when investigators traveled to Costa Rica and found the nanny willing to talk after her relationship with Worrell had ended. Worrell was arrested Tuesday at his home in Missouri, north of Kansas City. He waived extradition to Georgia and arrived at the Coffee County jail late Thursday. 'This case was never forgotten,' Sheriff Fred Cole told reporters at a news conference Friday. 'And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice.' Doris Worrell had worked as a teacher and an interior designer before deciding to stay at home to raise three children. She and her husband operated a recreation business, Jon's Sports Park, in the small community of Douglas, about 130 miles southwest of Savannah. Worrell called police from the business on September 20, 2006, saying he had returned from running errands to find his wife's body. 'Many believed he was a grieving husband and his wife was the victim of a robbery gone wrong,' Jason Seacrist, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told reporters. Theories about Doris Worrell's killing evolved as investigators gathered more evidence. In 2008, two employees of the sports park were charged with being conspirators to her murder, but the case was dropped for lack of evidence. Meanwhile, Seacrist said, investigators learned that Worrell had been having an affair with the nanny at the time of his wife's death. 'Jon was concerned that if he divorced Doris, he would lose his children,' Seacrist said. 'And it's those thoughts that led him to begin recruiting someone to murder his wife.' He said Worrell fled to Costa Rica, where he and the nanny spent years living together while raising the Worrells' children. Then investigators learned the relationship had ended and Worrell had returned to the US. Georgia agents and sheriff's investigators traveled to Costa Rica in April and met with the nanny, the sheriff said. He said information she provided corroborated other evidence that authorities had been collecting for years. Doris Worrell's sister, LeAnn Tuggle, thanked investigators for their persistence. She recalled her sister as a gifted artist and loving mother who had agreed to let the nanny live at her home because the young woman had nowhere else to stay. 'Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,' Tuggle said. 'Her being kind is ultimately what caused her death.' Authorities are still trying to determine who shot Doris Worrell. One of men charged 17 years ago in the killing and later released has died, Seacrist said, while the other recently got out of prison in an unrelated case. The nanny has not been charged. 'In our mind, she is not a suspect,' Seacrist said.
New York Times
24-05-2025
- New York Times
U.S. Man Who Lived Abroad With Family's Nanny Is Charged in Wife's Murder
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.'
