Motive for Slaying of Black Man 34 Years Ago Revealed

Last month we told you how several arrests were made in the unsolved murder of a young Black man in Georgia. Thirty-four years ago, Timothy Coggins was brutally murdered outside of Atlanta. The case was cold until last month when authorities arrested and charged two white men for his murder in Spaulding County. Now Prosecuting attorney Ben Coker revealed this week that the motive for the murder appeared to be racism, as Coggins was apparently slain for “socializing with a white female.” According to the prosecutor, Coggins was stabbed multiple times, then dragged behind a pickup truck in a wooded area. Frankie Gebhardt and Bill Moore Sr. were charged with the brutal killing. Their attorneys asked a judge to release the two on bond, but bail was denied. Three other people have been charged with obstruction of justice in the case as well, including one who was a police officer at the time of the murder.