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The Macabre Murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond
Most people assume they will lead a long, fruitful, and happy life, and they hope that their last years on earth will be golden ones. We save money for retirement, do our best to stay healthy, and try to raise our kids to be healthy and prosperous adults.
Part of the American dream is to work hard and then enjoy the fruits of your labor when you’re old.
Russell and Shirley Dermond were very much enjoying the fruits of their labor in their sprawling home on Lake Oconee in Georgia when their lives were cut short in a manner so brutal that few could comprehend how anyone could want the elderly couple dead so much that they would slaughter them so heinously.
Five years later, the Dermonds’ killer or killers remain a mystery.
The Good Life
Shirley married Russell Dermond, a Navy veteran, on December 15, 1950. Photos show the young, good-looking couple smiling happily on their wedding day. The future was bright for the deeply in-love couple.
The Dermonds had four children — three sons and a daughter — who eventually gave them nine grandchildren. Sadly, one of their sons, Mark, died in a shootout over a bum drug deal in Atlanta.
The Dermonds were a religious family who prioritized family over all else. In the summer, the grandchildren traveled to Lake Oconee to attend summer camp and visit with their grandparents.
Russell and Shirley had rich lives and were not content to simply retire and sit around the house. Russell was a golf enthusiast, and Shirley was an avid writer and artist, and she loved completing crossword puzzles.
In his younger years, Russell was a successful businessman who owned several Hardee’s restaurants in Atlanta…
