Son kills dad and sets home on fire as cover-up, Georgia cops say. He’s going to prison
The son of a Georgia man found shot to death inside a burning home was convicted in his killing and sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said.
Griffin Leach, 24, was accused of shooting his father as he laid in bed at their shared home in Fayettteville, the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office said in a Sept. 19 news release announcing his conviction.
Leach left, but returned and set fire to the home to cover up the January 2023 killing, prosecutors said.
At the time, he said his father died by suicide, according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called Jan. 12 2023, and arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames, deputies said in a Sept. 23 news release. A body was later discovered in the primary bedroom.
Prosecutors said Leach stopped for beer at a local convenience store before heading home to start the fire.
Deputies stopped him after they spotted him driving back and forth past the burning home, the release said. That’s when he told deputies his father set the fire after an argument and fatally shot himself, according to the district attorney’s office.
However, authorities said they found a revolver in Leach’s vehicle.
“Forensic testing later showed that the bullet recovered from the victim’s body had been fired from the .38 special found in the defendant’s possession,” prosecutors said. The testing also confirmed gasoline on his father’s body, the bed sheets and on Leach’s clothes.
On Sept. 12, he was found guilty of malice murder, aggravated assault, arson and other charges in the death of his father following a week-long trial, according to the sheriff’s office.
He was sentenced to life in prison plus 35 consecutive years, without the possibility of parole, authorities said.
Leach remained in custody at the Fayette County jail as of Wednesday, Sept. 25, online records show.
Fayetteville is about a 20-mile drive south from downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published September 25, 2024 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Son kills dad and sets home on fire as cover-up, Georgia cops say. He’s going to prison."