Half of evidence collected at scene of Timothy Coggins' murder vanished, GBI experts say

SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — While prosecutors had to deal with the fact that half the evidence collected from the scene of the 1983 murder of Timothy Coggins vanished, some witnesses silenced for those 34 years came forward Thursday to say defendant Frank Gebhardt admitted to the killing, mere hours after the body was discovered.

Gebhardt is on trial for the murder of Tim Coggins, a murder that investigators said was motivated by race hatred.

Prosecutors believe Gebhardt and William Moore stabbed Coggins, a black man, to death because he was dating a white woman.

Thursday morning, several GBI experts testified that over the course of the 34 years, about half of the evidence collected at the crime scene off Minter Road in Spalding County vanished.

They did recover Coggins' blood-stained pants, underwear and the sheet his body was wrapped in, but admitted the DNA pulled from the blood on those items did not match Gebhardt's or Moore’s DNA.

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Willard Sanders is one of the men who discovered Coggins' body along a cut for a power line 34 years ago. He said within hours of the discovery, he was talking with Gebhardt. He told jurors Gebhardt admitted to the murder.

“He brought up, did we find the body on the power line? I said 'yeah,'” Sanders testified. “And he said he and Bill put him there. He said Bill killed him, and he tied chains to his feet and drug him on the power line.”

One of Gebhardt’s former cellmates testified that Gebhardt told him he took the knife used in the killing and dumped it down a well on his property. A GBI expert testified they found a rusty knife in that well along with a chain when they excavated it in 2017.

Jonathan Bennett wasn’t even born when the murder happened, but he told jurors that years later, he overheard Gebhardt telling his father that he had killed Coggins.

“He said that William Moore stabbed him 38 times, and then he tied him to the back of the truck and drug him down the road,” Bennett said.

Wednesday, a former medical examiner testified that Coggins was stabbed around 30 times.

Moore will go on trial for the murder later this year. The prosecution could rest its case by Friday.

Cox Media Group