DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - Officials with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, and Waycross Judicial circuit District Attorney’s Office gathered at the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office to provide updates on the arrest of Jon Worrell, 58, in connection to the 2006 murder of his wife Doris Worrell.

Doris Worrell was shot and killed on September 20, 2006, inside Jon’s Sports Park.

Today, investigators believe that Jon recruited someone to murder his wife because he was concerned that if he divorced Doris he would lose his children.

According to GBI Special Agent in Charge Jason Seacrist, information was obtained that Jon and Doris were having marital issues. Part of those issues included Jon’s inappropriate relationship with the then live-in-nanny, Paola Yarberry, and on September 20, 2006, investigators say Jon succeeded in his conspiracy to have his wife murdered.

Seacrist says, “After Doris’s murder, when Jon lost sympathy and the investigation began to highlight him, he did what murders do. He ran.”

First, Jon went to Fernandina Beach Florida. Next, he went to Costa Rica. Paula was sent to an immigration facility and deported because she did not have the correct paperwork.

Jon and Paula were spotted together in Costa Rica. Investigators say that the two denied a relationship, but they raised the children as if they were their own.

In the early stages of the investigation two men, Glidden Humberto Rodriguez and Brandon Eugene Cage, were arrested with conspiracy to murder Doris, but as the investigation continued there was not enough evidence to convict either person. Since their arrests, one has died and the other was released from prison.

In recent years, Jon and Paula ended their relationship, and Jon moved back to United States, Seacrist said. During this time, a new GBI agent was assigned to this case and devised a creative investigative game plan.

The GBI and Coffee County Sheriff’s Office executed the investigation which led them to Costa Rica where they say Paula eventually cooperated. When questioned during the press conference, Seacrist told WALB that Paula is not considered a suspect in the investigation.

Investigators obtained arrest warrants for Jon, and traveled to his residence in Missouri.

Jon was arrested in Maryville, Missouri on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 following a nearly two-decade-long investigation.

He has been charged with:

• Malice murder
• Felony murder
• Conspiracy to commit murder
• Aggravated battery

Now, Jon Worrell is back in Coffee County. He had his first appearance this morning and was denied bond.

“I want to be clear this case was never forgotten. And while the road has been long and often frustrating we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice, and today we honor Doris and her loved ones with the long awaited breakthrough,” said Coffee County Sheriff, Fred Cole.

Leann Tuggle, Doris’s older sister, was present at the press conference. She spoke openly and emotionally about the loss of her sister.

“When Doris was murdered, she left behind 3 young children, 2 girls and a 3-year-old little boy,” said Tuggle. “We’ve missed out on their childhoods, on their high school graduations, we’ve missed out on their college graduations, watching them play sports. We’ve missed it all. It’s not just me, it’s my children, my husband, the cousins in the family. We miss them. And if any of you are watching today, I would like to say please come home. You have a home with us. We welcome you with open arms. We love you. We have always loved you. We pray for you. I know you have not been able to know that information, so I’m telling that to you now. We love you, and we want what’s best for you. And we want you back.”

The GBI and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office are working together to complete their case file so that it can make it’s way to the desk of Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney, Marilyn Bennett so Jon’s case can be reviewed and prosecuted.

Bennett was unable to attend the press conference, but Seacrist shared a statement on her behalf.

“This week’s arrest marks a pivotal moment in the investigation into the death of Ms. Doris Worrell, and our office looks forward to working with our law enforcement partners, the GBI and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office to bring closure to Ms. Worrell’s family, this community and in accordance with Georgia law, and the pursuit of justice,” said Bennett.

Seacrist concluded by saying, “To the families of victims in other cold cases, let this give you hope that answers you seek are still being solved. To the offenders, let this bring you fear, sleepless nights knowing we will not stop looking for you. And to the communities we serve, let this bring you pride and confidence that these cases are never forgotten and continue to be investigated. There is still hope for justice.”

WALB’s Taylor Lewis will have more. Stay with us.

Watch the full press conference below:

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