Although DeKalb

County authorities have filed murder charges against Carl J. Patton Jr.

for the death of a woman whose body was found in Fayette's Flint River

25 years ago, local authorities aren't dropping the case against him here.

Maj. Bruce

Jordan, director of investigations for the Fayette County Sheriff's Department,

said he wanted to be sure DeKalb had a solid case against Patton first.

Jordan said

his investigation revealed the murder of Liddie L. Evans likely occurred

at Patton's former residence on Ward Lake Road in DeKalb County, as did

the murder of her boyfriend, Joe Cleveland.

"I have

always said I would work my way right off of this case," Jordan said

recently.

Although a

person can be tried for murder in the county where the body was discovered,

if the location of the killing can be proved the trial should likely take

place there instead, officials said.

Patton is charged

with malice murder. Evans's body was found in the Flint after the body

of another alleged Patton murder victim, Betty Jo Ephlin, was found by

a duck hunter. Evans' leg was chained to a concrete block.

Patton was

a childhood friend of Cleveland and a nephew of a fourth alleged person

he killed, Fred Wyatt.

Fayette County

Sheriff Randall Johnson, who had only been in office for 11 months at

the time Evans' body was discovered in December 1977, originally arrested

Patton days after the murder. Patton was later released after then-district

attorney Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. indicated there wasn't enough evidence

to hold him on murder charges.

A new break

in the case came in December as Jordan followed a lead to the evidence

room of the Clayton County Police Department, which initially investigated

the Cleveland and Ephlin homicides. DNA tests of certain evidence provided

enough evidence to charge Patton a second time with Evans's murder, the

sheriff said.

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