- Publication: The Athens Observer (Athens, Georgia)
- Author: Chris Boone
- Original Publication Date: Thursday, April 30, 1992
Despite reports to the contrary, Marvin Taylor is not a suspect in last week’s murder of University student Jennifer Lynn Stone, 22, according to Maj. Gerald Guntharp, commander of the Athens-Clarke County Police Criminal Investigation Division.
“Marvin Taylor is no more of a suspect than anyone else,” Guntharp said. “At this point we don’t have anything to tie him to the Stone case.”
Taylor, 18, was arrested early last Friday morning after allegedly attempting to break into a young woman’s South Pope Street apartment. He was found with belongings apparently taken from a nearby car and charged with entering an auto, loitering and prowling, according to police.
After being arrested, Taylor was identified by an Athens woman who said he had abducted and raped her a week earlier, police said.
“We will look at Marvin Taylor and anyone else arrested on a sexual assault charge,” Guntharp said.
Police have completed their investigation of Stone’s Hull Street apartment and have sent all their findings to the State Crime Lab in Decatur.
While investigators are not ruling out anything, Guntharp said it appears Stone’s attacker did not force his or her way into the victim’s residence and there were no signs of a robbery.
“There doesn’t appear to be any sign of prying or breaking-in,” he said. “The door may not have been locked. Had it been locked, it (the apartment) would’ve been secure.”
Stone’s friends said she sometimes left her doors unlocked.
The senior journalism major was set to graduate after spring quarter. Friends and professors described the 22-year-old as quiet, independent and dedicated to becoming a photographer. Preferably in the advertising field.
Three friends found Stone’s body in her bedroom at 7:30 p.m. last Thursday. The only visible signs of abuse were neck bruises, and the crime lab confirmed Friday that she was strangled to death. Further autopsy results produced evidence that the Roswell native was raped as well.
The past week has caught the usually serene University community off-guard. Many of Stone’s friends and others shaken by her murder have sought counseling.
Stone’s funeral was Monday, followed by an emotional memorial service Wednesday at the University’s Catholic Center.
Guntharp said the investigation will continue as police await crime lab results on everything from carpet samples to hair strands. Already the 10 officers assigned to the case have talked to more than 100 persons about the murder in hopes of “tracing every movement she made that day (of the murder),” Guntharp said.
Police are fairly confident a transient from the Greyhound bus station which sits next to Stone’s apartment is not responsible for the murder.
[Front-page photo caption] Photographs of Jennifer Stone, posted by the WAGA-TV camera crew to transfer them to videotape, reminded passersby of the young woman who was murdered last week in her Hull Street residence. Contrary to TV news reports Tuesday night, Athens-Clarke County police Wednesday reported no suspect in the case. (Photo by Greg Hirshoren)