A Columbus man charged with capital murder will make his preliminary court appearance in Columbus Municipal Court on Aug. 16. Ernest Talley, 44, of 805 Remunda Drive, was arrested Feb. 17 in connection with the 1997 murder of 70-year old George Wilbanks. Wilbanks’ murder was the second in a string of five which occurred between 1996 and 1998.
Curtis Hinton, 47, 2523 5th Ave. N in Columbus, turned himself in to the police on Thursday. A warrant was issued for his arrest in June for his alleged involvement in Wilbanks’ murder. Hinton was arraigned on a capital murder charge and his bond was set at $2 million. Hinton’s initial court appearance is Sept. 6.
Wilbanks’ body was discovered in his home Nov. 2, 1997. He had been stabbed and strangled. His murder was the second in a string of five murders of senior citizens. All five victims died in a similar fashion and lived within a three-mile radius of one another in north Columbus. Wilbanks lived on Second Avenue North at the time of his death.
The murders of Mack Fowler, Robert Hannah, Louise Randall and Betty Everett have yet to be solved. The murders gained national attention and were the subject of the CBS news program, “48 Hours.”
Talley was being held at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center at the time of his arrest on a burglary charge stemming from Jan. 21.
CPD Chief Selvain McQueen said he didn’t expect to make any more arrests in connection with Wilbanks’ death, although his department is still attempting to solve other cold case files from the late 1990s North Columbus murders.
“We haven’t had any new information recently, but we are still following some other leads and we will continue to actively work these cases,” McQueen said.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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