An Alabama man is charged in an unsolved case involving a Georgia woman who was stabbed to death

LAFAYETTE, Georgia (AP) — An Alabama man is in custody for the stabbing murder of a woman in her Georgia home 24 years ago, authorities said Friday.

U.S. Marshals arrested 63-year-old Clerence George at his Birmingham home around 11:30 a.m. on August 22. He is being held in the Jefferson County Jail awaiting extradition to Georgia. He is charged with murder and aggravated assault in connection with the 2000 killing of Julie Ann McDonald.

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said during a news conference Friday that McDonald, a 43-year-old pharmacist, had been stabbed multiple times and had likely been dead for three or four days when her body was found in her home in LaFayette, Georgia, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta.

There were several suspects at the time, he said, including George, an acquaintance of McDonald's, who was found with her checkbook. But there was not enough evidence to make arrests.

The sheriff said authorities have not yet released a possible motive for McDonald's death.

George, who would have been 39 at the time of McDonald's murder, has a long list of arrests in Alabama, but none for violent crimes, court records show. al.com reported.

In 2015, investigators reopened the cold case and submitted evidence for review, but again the evidence was not enough to file charges. The case was reopened in 2023 and again this year, but this time technology helped bring formal charges.

Investigators said good, old-fashioned police work – re-interviewing witnesses and making home visits – was crucial to solving the case.

Wilson and Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials who worked together on the investigation said they would never give up on unsolved cases.

GBI Special Agent in Charge Joe Calhoun thanked everyone who worked on the McDonald case.

“There was really good work done here, and not all of it was scientific,” he said. “There was also some legwork and door-to-door sales. The GBI never stops working on cold cases. These investigators put in tremendous effort, even though they sometimes hit a wall, but they kept going.”

“I think we always have that drive,” Wilson added.

Many of the victim's relatives have since died, but authorities said they notified McDonald's niece and nephew of George's arrest.

“The greatest satisfaction I've experienced working on these unsolved cases is the relief for the family that someone is found guilty by their peers in a court of law and held accountable for a death that was completely unnecessary. It's a relief for the family that they can put it behind them and move on,” Wilson said. “Not that it brings them great joy, but it's the fact that they know someone was held accountable for that death.”