Police Confident About Arrest in Ga. Sheriff's Slaying

Nov. 28, 2001 -- Georgia sheriff-elect Derwin Brown was killed just days before he was set to take office, vowing to clean up corruption in his department and fire dozens of people. Nearly a year later, police have not been able to make an arrest — but a trial that began today in another killing may lead to a break in the case.

Former DeKalb County sheriff's deputy — and self-described target of the Brown investigation — Patrick Cuffy was set to go on trial for murder with another co-defendant for a March 18 shootout that left a reputed drug dealer dead.

But just before jury selection began today, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges, leaving co-defendant Carl Hewitt to stand trial and lingering questions over whether this case would yield any clues about Brown's death.

Brown was shot 11 times in the driveway of his home last Dec. 15, three days before he was to be sworn in as the new sheriff of DeKalb County in Decatur, Ga.

Upon winning the elected post, Brown vowed to clean up his department, which had a long history of corruption, and indicated that he would fire dozens of employees at the DeKalb County Jail. Police said they had one witness, but the person was unable to decisively identify a gunman. Investigators still have not found a murder weapon, but they believe it was a 9 mm handgun, a weapon favored by many drug dealers.

Leads went nowhere until March 18, when a shootout broke out in front of Cuffy's home. During the gunfire, a reputed drug dealer named Jeffery "Nigel" George was beaten, dragged into his own car, shot to death, and dumped in park a few miles away.

Initially, Cuffy was not charged in George's slaying, but was accused of tampering with evidence when police believe he tried to hide a Tec-9 gun allegedly used in the shootout. (That weapon also has not been found.) But in September, he and three others — German Montez, and brothers Dania and Carl Hewitt — were charged with murder in George's slaying.

Police have not directly called Cuffy and his co-defendants suspects in Brown's killing — they still say they have evidence that the two incidents are linked. George's killing and a special grand jury impaneled since April to investigate Brown's slaying make police confident that they will make formal arrests in the sheriff-elect's case soon.

"We're very confident," said DeKalb County Lt. Pam Kunz. "We have suspects in the shootout and we've gathered evidence that shows that the two incidents are linked. But we're not going to reveal anything because it's an ongoing investigation, and we really want this [the Brown case] to make it to trial."

Motive and Evidence a Mystery … and Part of a Greater Conspiracy?

The evidence that allegedly ties the Brown and George slayings together is a mystery. Detectives have speculated in reports that the five men gathered at Cuffy's house to settle a dispute over stolen marijuana and a truck stolen from George in a drug deal that went bad. Police believe George was killed to settle the dispute — and that Cuffy orchestrated the slaying.

The night before his death, police said, George's truck was stolen by Montez and his brother Antonio, and Cuffy allegedly orchestrated the meeting between George and the co-defendants. On Nov. 3, another man, identified as Theophilus Williams — who fled from the scene of the shootout and was wanted for questioning — was finally apprehended in New York when police arrested him for illegal possession of a handgun and marijuana.

Cuffy has claimed he was the real target of the George shooting, telling TV station WAGA-TV shortly after the incident, "I believe they were trying to get me." However, Williams, who is charged with aggravated assault for allegedly firing back at Cuffy, Montez and the Hewitt brothers in the shooting, has claimed in reports that he and George were targets. Police hope Williams can provide evidence on Cuffy's role in the George killing and Brown's slaying, but he has claimed he doesn't know anything about the sheriff-elect's case.

So, the motive behind Brown's slaying remains mysterious. Kunz indicated that one reason there has not been an arrest is that the evidence gathered over the past year has led investigators on various directions and has not pointed toward one clear motive.

"There have been copious amounts of physical evidence which have led to other pieces of evidence," Kunz said. "And that has led us to different directions. … But the murder goes far beyond what was first said. It involves several different states and even other countries."

Kunz refused to explain further. Police initially believed Brown's slaying stemmed from his promise to clean up corruption in his department and to fire approximately 38 employees. The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department has had a long history of corruption. Four out of five sheriffs elected before Brown have been convicted, indicted or investigated on suspicion of using their positions for financial gain.

The man Brown defeated in the election for sheriff, Sidney Dorsey, was investigated for misconduct in his hiring of several DeKalb County prison guards — including Cuffy — for his privately owned security firm. (Cuffy has claimed investigators have focused on him because of his ties to Dorsey.) A separate grand jury is hearing evidence on corruption allegations against Dorsey.

Former aides to Brown have said in reports that weeks before his death, investigators made him aware of an investigation into an alleged drug ring run by employees in his department. DeKalb District Attorney J. Tom Morgan said Brown was going to help with in the investigation once he took office.

"Derwin was going to be a big help with our investigation once he was in charge of the jail," Morgan told the Atlanta Journal Constitution in March.

Too Much Focus on One Man

But E. Duane Jones, Cuffy's attorney in the Brown case who has given Cuffy legal advice in the George case, believes one reason police have been unable to make an arrest is that they have wrongfully focused on his client.

"From the beginning, this has been a witch hunt, and Patrick Cuffy was selected as the witch before the hunt began," Jones said.

Jones said that police focused on Cuffy almost immediately, sending investigators to his house before Brown's body was even cold. Brown was shot at 11:30 in the evening; within an hour, Jones said, police were searching Cuffy's home.

In George's slaying, Jones says Cuffy was the only one of his four other co-defendants who did not have a gun and never held a gun during the fracas. Cuffy, he says, never participated in George's beating, never drove off in a car to drop off George's body, and a police detective has testified about Cuffy's innocence in court. Jones remains baffled about the murder charge his client faces.

"We have a police officer who has testified that Mr. Cuffy never had a gun, never held a gun, was never in the car with the men," Jones said. "Until September, they had only charged him with tampering with evidence and then all of a sudden, he's charged with murder. … We really think this is egregious, that they haven't made any other efforts to focus anyone other than my client."

Awaiting the Grand Jury's Findings

Cuffy pleaded guilty to guilty to aggravated assault, tampering with evidence and giving false statements to police in connection with George's death. It is not known whether he will testify against any of his former co-defendants. No trial date has been set for Dania Hewitt while German Montez will have a separate trial with his brother Antonio, who allegedly helped steal George's truck.

Two other former prison employees and one prospective employee have been charged with providing false alibis to investigators when they allegedly lied about their whereabouts and Cuffy's whereabouts on the night of the Brown's slaying. (Cuffy has claimed he was home.)

The grand jury in Brown's killing, which had been meeting once a week since April, has recessed until there is an outcome in the George case. But police insist an arrest for Brown's slaying will not depend on the verdict.

"It will not necessarily depend on that," said District Attorney Morgan. "We'll be waiting for the findings of the grand jury and hope to go forward from there."

Anyone who has information on Derwin Brown's killing is asked to call the DeKalb County Police Department's hotline at (404) 508-7666.