Get notified by email when this case is updated.
Written by: K. Bishop
Published May 18, 2023 @ 3:40 PM ET
TRENTON, Ga. – A Dade County jury announced a guilty verdict for a mentally ill man convicted of murdering his mother in Sand Mountain on March 4 of last year while her husband was outside the home, unaware. The man, covered in his mother’s blood, called police after nearly decapitating the elderly victim.
Roger Allen Shrader murdered the woman with a machete and a lawn tool similar to a pickaxe. Reports say he relied on his mother as a caregiver while struggling with mental illness and accused the woman of abuse.
After the murder, Shrader called and confessed the murder to his son and waited with the body of his mother, 81-year-old Lagatha Watson, for police to arrive.
Shrader was originally charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated assault by strangulation. He attempted to enter an insanity plea, despite acknowledging that he was aware what he did to his mother was wrong. He reportedly struggled with his mental health throughout his life and claimed he was delusional when he killed Watson, although he knew she would not harm him and that he should not kill her.
Shrader will face, at minimum, a life sentence.