Twins face murder charges in body case

WINDER - Authorities have charged 31 year old twin brothers with murder, in addition to concealing a death in a bizarre case out of Winder.

The body was found encased in concrete and buried in the back yard of the twins' father. William and Christopher Cormier were detained during the initial phases of the case, and were officially charged with murder Wednesday.

Prior to the murder charges, authorities declared the death a homicide.

Medical examiners were able to make that determination because of the number and location of the man's injuries, Winder police officer Chris Cooper said. The autopsy revealed that the man died of blunt force trauma to the head about a month ago.

Authorities still haven't definitively identified the body, Cooper said. But police in Winder and in Pensacola, Fla., have said they believe the remains are those of 30-year-old Sean Dugas of Pensacola, who had been reported missing. Once they have confirmed the identity, the next step will be to determine where the death occurred, Cooper said.

Dugas was last heard from on Aug. 27, when he made plans to have lunch with a friend the next day, police said. When the friend went to pick him up for the meal, he wasn't home. After trying unsuccessfully for days to reach Dugas, the friend went back to his house on Sept. 7 to find it empty. Neighbors told her a U-Haul truck was there Sept. 3 and they saw at least one man removing things.

That man told the neighbors that Dugas had been beaten and was going to live with him, police said.

The female friend continued to try to reach Dugas before calling police on Sept. 13.

Police in Pensacola identified a home in Winder and contacted police there. After visiting the home and talking to the twins' father, Winder police got a search warrant to investigate an area in the yard that appeared to have been recently disturbed. They found a human body that had been encased in a plastic storage container filled with concrete.

Investigators have determined that Dugas knew the Cormiers, likely through a comic book shop in Florida because they were all involved in a trading card game, but police hadn't determined the extent of that friendship or how long it had been going on, Cooper said.