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Written by: A. Smith
Published February 16, 2026 @ 9:35 PM ET
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. – A North Georgia family is finally getting answers, 24 years after their loved one was beaten to death outside his Lumpkin County apartment.
Investigators say it was a relentless family member, new DNA technology, and years of persistence that ultimately solved the 2001 murder.
Herman Wilder, 56, was beaten to death in May 2001 with a wooden stake in front of his apartment. He was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he was pronounced dead.
Lumpkin County Sheriff Stacy Jarrard said the case was difficult from the start.
“A lot of the witnesses saw things, but they just could not identify who it was,” Jarrard said.
At one point, a suspect confessed. However, prosecutors later determined that person did not commit the murder.
Wilder’s great-niece, who was just 12 years old at the time, made it her mission to find the real killer, according to family members. As she grew older, she continued pushing law enforcement for answers.
Captain Alan Roach with the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office said he took many of her calls.
Tragically, she passed away after a sudden illness before her uncle’s murder was solved.
Investigators continued revisiting the case over the years but repeatedly hit dead ends. In February, investigator Haysley Gibson learned that DNA had been sent to Othram, a forensic lab in The Woodlands, Texas, that uses forensic genetic genealogy to help law enforcement solve cold cases.
“They gave us ideas of what family lines to go look for and people to talk to,” Gibson said.
Armed with that information, Gibson went door to door collecting DNA samples from people in the community.
In 2023, investigators determined through new DNA testing that Carroll Dean Burrell, who was 41 at the time of the murder, committed the crime. Authorities say Burrell had known delusional and violent tendencies.
Burrell died before investigators could arrest him. Authorities say the evidence ties Burrell definitively to the DNA found on the murder weapon and on a baseball cap connected to the case.
While there will be no trial, the breakthrough has brought long-awaited closure to Wilder’s family and to investigators.
Gibson said solving the case after more than two decades is deeply meaningful.
“It’s one of those days that tugs at your heartstrings because you know you’ve been able to do something for them that no one has been able to do in the last 24 years,” he said.