Update: 4 p.m. — At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said physical evidence allegedly disposed of by former Simpsonville Police officer George Ralph Bobo means it will likely be impossible to close the case of the 1984 murder of Cassandra Johnson.
Wilkins said the slain woman's family was told of the evidence destruction and impending charges against Bobo before the information was publicly released. He expressed sympathy for the family, who has been waiting for more than two decades for justice and closure.
Wilkins said that despite the case being 28 years old, investigators continued to work on the case with real hopes of solving it.
"My heart goes out to the family of Cassandra Johnson," he said. "This is absolutely tragic for her family."
Wilkins did not say what key piece of evidence Bobo is alleged to have destroyed, nor what his motive was, though investigators believe they know, he said.
Wilkins also said they believe Bobo, who was in charge of evidence in the Johnson case, worked alone in allegedly disposing of the evidence. Wilkins said it did not appear that evidence from any other cases had been compromised by Bobo, who remained in the county detention center Tuesday afternoon on $60,000 bond.
Wilkins also alleged that the evidence disposal was not accidental. "We're alleging he knowingly disposed of the evidence," Wilkins said.
Stay tuned to Patch for more on this developing story.
Original story: A former Simpsonville police officer has been arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and misconduct in a murder case, the State Law Enforcement Division said Tuesday.
George Ralph Bobo, 53, of Gray Court, was arrested by SLED agents Tuesday and booked into the Greenville County Detention Center. He has been charged with one count each of obstructing justice and misconduct in office, according to arrest warrants.
SLED alleged that Bobo, a former officer in Simpsonville and Mauldin, disposed of evidence in a homicide case sometime between March 2000 and January 2012.
Simpsonville Police Chief Steve Moore said he was awaiting word from SLED, but said he believed the case in question is the 1984 cold-case murder of 20-year-old Cassandra Jones, a Hillcrest High graduate who was found dead from multiple stab wounds in a wooded area off West Georgia Road on Sept. 22, 1984.
The case remains unsolved.
Bobo, hired by Simpsonville in 1992, was a lieutenant with the Simpsonville Police Department when he was fired in January 2012, Moore said. He then went to work for the Mauldin Police Department and later resigned there.
13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins told WYFF that because the evidence in the Johnson homicide case has been destroyed, it will most likely never move forward. Wilkins said it is most likely that the South Carolina Attorney General's Office will prosecute the case against Bobo.
If convicted, Bobo faces a possible combined 20 years in prison on the charges, a SLED news release said. Bobo was set to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.
Stay with Patch for more on this developing story.