• Publication: The Red and Black (University of Georgia student newspaper) — Weekend
• Author: Not credited
• Original Publication Date: Friday, April 23, 1993

Significant events in the Stone investigation

April 23, 1992 Between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., Jenny Stone is slain. A little after 3 a.m., police say two cameras belonging to Stone are sold on the streets. At 7:30 p.m., three friends discover her body after she failed to show up for a meeting. Police rule her death as a homicide around 11 p.m.

April 24, 1992 The state crime lab determines Stone was strangled.

April 25, 1992 The crime lab confirms Stone was raped before her death and suggests the killing may have taken place late evening April 22.

April 27, 1992 Jenny Stone is buried.

April 29, 1992 Memorial services for Stone are held at the University’s Catholic Center. Around 500 students attend.

May 1, 1992 Newspaper and television reports suggest a man arrested for a rape in Parkview Apartments is a suspect in the Stone slaying. DNA tests later disprove this theory.

July 1, 1992 One of two cameras missing from Stone’s apartment April 23 turns up in a drug raid. University employee Earnest Brown is arrested and charged with possession of the stolen camera, which he says he traded to Eric Taylor. Taylor is subsequently arrested on unrelated charges.

July 2, 1992 A second man, Donald Wilson, is arrested and charged with possession of the stolen cameras.

July 7, 1992 Larry Darnell Brown, whose name came up in the police investigation, is arrested in connection with the stolen cameras.

July 9, 1992 DNA samples from the three men are sent to the crime lab. “The findings of the cameras is a major break in the case. We feel very positive about this information, and we see it possibly leading to an end,” says Maj. David Camp.

July 23, 1992 Police say DNA, fingerprint and hair samples of the men connected with Stone’s cameras do not match those taken from her apartment.

July 27, 1992 Earnest Brown tells police about a possible suspect in Texas.

October 1, 1992 State representative Charles Poag writes a letter to Gov. Zell Miller requesting the investigation be turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Athens police say they’ve been working with the GBI since the beginning of the investigation.

October 20, 1992 James Edwards, 19-year-old man brought back from Louisiana for jumping bail on an underage drinking charge, becomes Athens police’s new suspect after his name surfaces several times during the investigation.

October 20, 1992 Sgt. W.J. Smith flies to Houston, Texas, to acquire a blood sample from a suspect suggested by Earnest Brown.

October 21, 1992 James Edwards is eliminated as a suspect after DNA tests come back negative.

November 26, 1992 Negative DNA results eliminate Houston man as a suspect. Police say they have no other suspects.

December 4, 1992 Police say they are frustrated by the slow-moving case. “We’re looking for a ghost,” says Maj. Gerald Guntharp.

January 8, 1993 Police say they want to hypnotize Earnest Brown and Wilson. Wilson agrees, but Brown’s lawyer, University law professor Larry Blount, doesn’t return police phone calls.

January 25, 1993 Formal motions to dismiss charges against Larry Brown and Wilson are filed. “This is one of the most frustrating cases I have ever had,” Sgt. W.J. Smith says.

April 22, 1993 Police are waiting for DNA results on two suspects and are pursuing four open leads. “The investigation is moving along,” Smith said. “How long we’ve got to get there, I don’t know — but I know who didn’t do it.”

[Photo caption] The crime scene at 187 Hull St. in Downtown Athens (File)

[Photo caption] Sgt. W.J. Smith (W.R. Baker / The Red and Black)