$300,000 reward offered for arrest in unsolved killing case

<p>Seeking to crack the case of an 8-year-old murder mystery, authorities are pleading with Georgia and California residents for information leading to an arrest in the slaying of an Atlanta businessman.</p><p>Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced Wednesday that the reward for information in the 1996 shooting death of David Coffin Jr. has increased from $200,000 to $300,000.</p><p>A day earlier, Atlanta police Sgt. Rick Chambers pleaded for any information on the killings at a news conference in Palo Alto, Calif., which is where Scott Winfield Davis _ whom Howard called the "prime suspect" in Coffin's death _ lives.</p><p>Davis, a self-employed software consultant who dropped out of California's 2003 recall election for governor, originally was charged in Coffin's death in Atlanta, but the charges were dropped in 1998 for lack of evidence.</p><p>According to prosecutors and newspaper reports, Coffin was romantically involved with Davis' wife, who had filed for divorce three months before Coffin's death.</p><p>Davis said that he is "absolutely 100 percent innocent. I just think the police are here to harass me."</p><p>Prosecutors in Atlanta on Wednesday also downplayed statements made by Chambers in Palo Alto that Davis would soon be arrested on suspicion of murder. Instead, Howard's spokesman Erik Friedly said "no arrest is imminent" in the case.</p><p>"Our people were out in California where Scott Davis lives. We're working different aspects of the investigation and we remain hopeful that we will be able to move forward sooner rather than later. But I would not want to characterize that in any way that there's an arrest imminent," Friedly said.</p><p>Chambers said the investigation heated up three months ago after detectives uncovered new evidence. He said police still need more information to solidify their case.</p><p>"We just want some more information," Chambers said. "We could make an arrest at this point, but we're trying to get one last bit of information. If we don't get the information, he should still be arrested by the end of spring."</p><p>Chambers did not say what information police were seeking or what new evidence they had found. Howard similarly declined to discuss specifics about evidence, including whether investigators had found the murder weapon.</p><p>"I've proven in the past that I was at work during some of these crimes. There is no real evidence tying me to these things. I just want to move on with my life. I have no idea what's going on," Davis said.</p>