A Grand Jury returned a true bill of indictment of murder charges against an Otto man arrested in August for the strangulation death of a murder witness.
According to the indictment filed Oct. 5 in Rabun County, Georgia, Keegan Cleve Plumer Phillips, 23, of Otto, is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of abandonment of a dead body in Rabun County. Additionally, Robert Lee Peppers, 62, of Clayton, Georgia, received a true bill of indictment for abandonment of a dead body and concealing the death of another.
Georgia law states that malice murder requires the prosecutor to prove there was a “specific intent to kill.” Felony murder does not require intent. Both murder charges carry the same range of sentences in Georgia, from life in prison to the death penalty. As of September, Georgia has 38 people on death row and hasn’t executed anyone since 2020.
According to the indictment, between July 28 and Aug. 4, Phillips allegedly murdered Martha Angela Ledford by strangling her with a belt.
The indictment is the first official court document that confirms that Ledford, 22, of Clayton, Georgia, was the victim in the murder. The indictment lists members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Northeast Regional Crime Lab in Cleveland and its main headquarters in Decatur as witnesses in the case.
On Aug. 4-5, the indictment alleges that Phillips and Peppers abandoned “a portion of a dead human body” near Patterson Gap in Rabun County, and then Phillips abandoned a human head near 288 Hall Lane in Clayton.
Starting with a call on Aug. 6, officers from multiple Georgia, North Carolina and forest service agencies discovered human remains at both locations, plus a related crime scene at 128 Pepper Lane in Clayton. Phillips and Peppers were both arrested shortly after. Phillips is still being held in the Rabun County Detention Center, while Peppers has posted bond, detention center officials confirmed.
Ledford and Phillips were witnesses in the May 2022 Macon County murder case of Tina Walkingstick Frizsell, with Ledford also being the victim of one of the kidnapping charges. Christopher Shields is facing capital murder charges for Frizsell’s murder, when he allegedly kidnapped Frizsell and another woman, then shot and killed Frizsell in a shed before enlisting others to transport and burn her body. According to court documents, Ledford was already at the shed and saw Shields kill Frizsell.
During a Sept. 25 court hearing, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said that Shields made a “hit list” to threaten witnesses and potential witnesses in his case, which included Ledford.