Nearly two decades after his wife was found shot dead in their small-town Georgia business, Jon Worrell has finally been charged with her murder.
Worrell, now in custody in Coffee County, Georgia, was arrested Tuesday at his Missouri home, nearly 19 years after the killing of his wife, Doris Worrell. He had been living for years in Costa Rica with the family’s live-in nanny—his mistress—before returning quietly to the U.S.
“This case was never forgotten,” said Coffee County Sheriff Fred Cole. “And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice.”
A Death That Looked Like a Robbery
On September 20, 2006, Worrell called 911 from Jon’s Sports Park—the recreation business he ran with Doris in Douglas, Georgia—saying he’d come back from errands and found her dead. She’d been shot.
“Many believed he was a grieving husband and his wife was the victim of a robbery gone wrong,” said Jason Seacrist of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
But police grew suspicious, and the story began to unravel. In 2008, two employees were charged in connection with the murder, but those charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
A Hidden Affair, A Cold Escape
Investigators later uncovered a key piece of the puzzle: Worrell had been having an affair with the nanny—while his wife was alive and under the same roof.
“Jon was concerned that if he divorced Doris, he would lose his children,” said Seacrist. “And it’s those thoughts that led him to begin recruiting someone to murder his wife.”
Worrell fled the country with the nanny after the murder, living in Costa Rica and raising the Worrell children with her for years.
A Break in the Case
The case turned in April. Georgia investigators traveled to Costa Rica and tracked down the former nanny, who had recently split from Worrell. She agreed to talk.
Her story lined up with evidence investigators had been gathering for years.
Worrell was arrested in Missouri on May 21. He waived extradition and was booked into Coffee County jail on May 23.
A Family’s Long Wait
Doris Worrell had once been a teacher and interior designer before choosing to stay home to raise her three children. Her sister, LeAnn Tuggle, remembered her as “a gifted artist and loving mother” who had taken in the nanny out of kindness.
“Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,” Tuggle said. “Her being kind is ultimately what caused her death.”
Authorities are still trying to determine who actually pulled the trigger. One of the original suspects has died; the other was recently released from prison in an unrelated case.
As for the nanny?
“In our mind, she is not a suspect,” Seacrist said.
