A decades-old investigation in the U.S. state of Georgia into the murder of a black man in 1983 culminated in the arrest of five white people on Friday, including two law enforcement officers charged with hindering the probe, officials said.
The body of Timothy Coggins, 23, was found on Oct. 9, 1983, in a grassy area near power lines in the community of Sunnyside, about 30 miles (48 km) south of downtown Atlanta.
He had been “brutally murdered” and his body had signs of trauma, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Investigators spoke to people who knew Coggins, but the investigation went cold, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said at a news conference.
This past March, new evidence led investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Spalding County to re-examine the case.
