Husband claimed he returned from errands to find his wife dead. 19 years later, cops say he was the killer

Doris Worrell was found shot to death at the family business on September 20, 2006

Jon Worrell, 58 (left), was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Doris Worrell (right), who was shot and killed at their business 19 years ago (Coffee County Sheriff's Office)

Nearly 20 years after a Georgia woman was found shot to death, her husband has been charged with her murder, and investigators say it was information from the former nanny that led to his arrest.

Authorities first believed 39-year-old Doris Worrell was killed in a botched robbery after her husband, Jon Worrell, said he found her lifeless body at the business they owned on September 20, 2006, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

But everything changed last month when the couple’s nanny, with whom Worrell had fled to Costa Rica after his wife’s death, revealed new details to investigators when their love affair ended and he moved back to the U.S.

Worrell, now 58, was taken into custody last Tuesday at his home in Mayfield, Missouri, where he moved when he returned to the states. He waived extradition and was booked into the Coffee County Jail Thursday on charges of malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated assault.

“This case was never forgotten,” Coffee County Sheriff Fred Cole said Friday.

“And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice. Today we honor Doris and her loved ones with this long-awaited breakthrough,” Cole added.

Doris Worrell, who was 39 years old at the time, was found dead inside the store she owned with her husband in 2006 (Coffee County Sheriff's Office)

The brazen shooting happened at Jon's Sport Park, a recreation business the couple owned in the small community of Douglas, about 130 miles outside of Savannah. Doris, who was 39 years old at the time, was found dead inside the store.

Worrell called police and claimed he had just returned from running errands to find his wife shot dead.

“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, said Friday.

But a new story emerged after investigators traveled to Costa Rica to speak with the couple’s former nanny.

Investigators learned that at the time of his wife’s death, Worrell had been having an affair with their 18-year-old nanny. He wanted to divorce his wife, but was afraid of losing custody of his children.

“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.”

Jon Worrell, 58, has been charged with murder in the death of his wife Doris Worrell, who was shot and killed at their business 19 years ago (Coffee County Sheriff's Office)

Worrell then allegedly recruited Glidden Rodriguez and Brandon Cage to carry out the murder plot, authorities said. The men were later arrested for conspiracy to commit the murder, but investigators dropped the charges for a lack of evidence and they have never been re-arrested. Rodriguez has since died. And Cage recently got out of prison in an unrelated case, Seacrist said.

After his wife’s death, Worrell fled with his children to Florida and then to Costa Rica, where the nanny later joined him. She moved there after she was deported from the United States in part because she refused to give up critical information about the murder, authorities said.

For years, they lived in Costa Rica, raising the children together. But when investigators learned that the love affair had ended, they traveled to the country to see what they could learn from the nanny, whose name was not released.

Authorities said the information she provided corroborated other evidence that they had been collecting for years, and they were able to make an arrest.

Jon Worrell is taken into custody (Coffee County Sheriff's Office)

Doris’ sister, LeAnn Tuggle, thanked investigators for their persistence in getting answers about her sister’s murder.

She told WMAZ that she became suspicious of her former brother-in-law when he moved himself and the kids out of the country and wouldn’t tell anyone where they went.

“Why would he pick up his family and move and why would he not let us know his location when he moved out of the country? Things like that didn’t add up,” she said.

Tuggle said her sister should be remembered for her kindness.

“She was the sweetest, the absolute sweetest person anyone could have known,” she said.

However, her kindness might have led to her death, Tuggle added, explaining that Doris had agreed to let the nanny live at her home because she had nowhere else to stay.

“Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,” Tuggle noted. “Her being kind is ultimately what caused her death.”

The nanny is not a suspect in Doris’ death, authorities confirmed.

On Friday, Worrell was denied bond during his first court appearance and remains in Coffee County Jail.

Jon Worrell was denied bond and faces murder charges in the death of his wife, Doris (Coffee County Sheriff’s Office)

“This investigation should also give hope to the families of victims in other cold cases that the answers they seek are still being sought,” Seacrist said.

“It should produce fear and sleepless nights for the offenders in other cold cases because law enforcement will not stop looking for you. It should bring pride and confidence in the communities we serve, knowing that law enforcement has not forgotten and will continue to investigate these cases, no matter how long it takes.”