A Conyers man accused of dumping the body of a female victim in Cornelia is now charged with murder, according to the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office.
The victim, now positively identified as Jocelyn Camille Goodwine, was found dead at the end of Carpenters Cove Lane in Cornelia on Thursday, Feb. 20, after she’d been reported missing from Rockdale County three days earlier.
Lee Howard Daffin, 57, of Conyers, has now been charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and acts, malice murder, tampering with evidence, and theft by taking.
The man now suspected of killing Goodwine was involved in a high-speed police chase just one day before Goodwine’s body was found.
Law enforcement pursued Daffin on GA 365/Hwy. 17 Alternate, where the chase passed through the intersection of Highways 106 and 145. The pursuit came to a halt when the suspect’s vehicle was stopped on Collier Road, near Swift Street, south of Toccoa. Authorities have since connected Daffin to the death of Goodwine since he was taken into custody following the chase.
Authorities have not yet released an official cause of death.
Incident report
According to an incident report Now Habersham obtained from the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office last week, Goodwine and Daffin could be heard in the voicemail arguing over her telephone. She accused him of taking it and told him she wanted it back. As the argument escalated, investigators reported hearing a “dull thud” and the man allegedly threatening to kill Goodwine. The report says that was followed by “a loud BANG,” and the man saying, “I didn’t mean to do that.”
A family member reported Goodwine missing on the morning of Feb. 19, three days after they last spoke with her. Conducting a welfare check at Goodwine’s home, a deputy reported seeing a motorcycle in the garage that came back as being registered to Daffin.
Speaking to Daffin by phone, an investigator described him as “cagey” about his whereabouts. Daffin eventually revealed he was going fishing at Lake Chatuge in North Georgia. Rockdale County authorities issued a lookout for Goodwine’s vehicle on Feb. 19, and later that same day, they obtained a copy of the voicemail.
