"...in my personal opinion, the four were equally guilty of this offense and the four should have (all been put to death), in my opinion," said Ronnie Angel Thursday during a taping for Northeast Georgia This Week, which will air Sunday morning at 5:30 and 8:05 on WDUN NEWS TALK 550.
Angel, who lived in Flowery Branch and was head of the Major Case Squad for the GBI at the time of the murders 30 years ago, is now retired and lives in Lumpkin County.
Angel recalled in vivid detail the facts surrounding the crime, how investigators were led to the suspects, and the manhunt that led to their capture in West Virginia several days after six members of the Ned Alday family were slain May 14 1973 in Donaldsville, in Seminole County in southwest Georgia. One of the victims was brutally raped before she was killed.
Angel says of the four killers, only the youngest, Billy Issacs, who was 15 at the time, showed any remorse. Angel says, however, he showed remorse "only" from the standpoint that the murders "had happened."
"He was always in a denial, that he did not have anything to do with (the murders)," Angel said. "And, he expressed remorse only that it happened."
Billy Issacs is Carl Issacs brother. Carl, the mastermind of the crime, was executed Tuesday night. Billy testified against the other three defendants and served 21 years in prison. He was released nine years ago.
The other two killers - Wayne Coleman, Carl Issacs' half-brother, and George Dungee - had their death sentences commuted to life in prison and are still behind bars.
Coleman, Dungee, and Carl Issacs were escapees from a Maryland prison, who picked up Billy Issacs as they fled south after killing a Pennsylvania man and stealing his car.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/5/179248