Doug Mouton / Northshore Bureau Chief
ANGIE, LA -- A suspect is now in custody for the murder of Tilly McCain. It happened back in November at McCain's home in Angie, in Washington Parish.
Jerry Graves, 35, is in jail in Macon County, Missouri, charged with first-degree murder. Graves was in LaPlata, Missouri visiting family when Washington Parish investigators moved on an arrest warrant. LaPlata Police and Missouri State Police made the arrest late Thursday.
Back in November, Washington Parish investigators described a gruesome crime scene inside McCain's home along the Pearl River in Angie. According to detectives, there was no forced entry, but there was clearly a physical confrontation. Tilly McCain suffered multiple stab wounds and his throat was slashed.
"From what we can tell in the community," Washington Parish Sheriff Bobby Crowe said Friday, "they knew each other." All along, detectives believed the murder was not a random act.
Sheriff Crowe would not go into any more details than that. He wouldn't say how they linked Graves to the crime, but back in November, investigators said a great deal of DNA evidence was recovered at the scene. Sheriff Crowe wouldn't talk about a motive, but did say, he hopes to release more information on the case in the next couple weeks.
"I would like to say, without giving out a lot of information right now, that this is going to be a solid warrant," Sheriff Crowe added, " so people in the community can rest assured that things should be back to normal."
That came as welcome news to longtime Angie Mayor John Dorsey.
"We've never had anything to happen like this around here," Mayor Dorsey said, "A lot of people are going to be relieved. A lot of people have been walking on pins and needles, just for the fact that there was someone around here that could do such a gruesome murder."
No event in his 15 years as Mayor has effected Angie the way the Tilly McCain murder did, according to Mayor Dorsey.
"We'll be glad to move on now from what's happened," Mayor Dorsey added, "and hoping nothing like this ever happens again."
In the next few days, several members of the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office will travel to LaPlata, Missouri to bring Jerry Graves back to Louisiana. And according to Sheriff Crowe, more arrests could be coming.
"We believe there's a possibility that there could have been others," Sheriff Crowe said Friday.
