The TVOne true-crime show "ATL Homicide" featured the 2003 robbery and murder of Jimmy Atkins, whom police discovered strangled and duct taped in his home. (The show spelled his name as Jimmie.) Wayne Matthews, who had been in a romantic relationship with Atkins, was later convicted of his murder.
The AJC did not give the case much coverage at the time but reported on Matthews' sentencing in 2005. You can read that brief article below.
"ATL Homicide," now in its second season, recreates cases as told by David Quinn and Vince Velazquez, two retired Atlanta Police Department homicide detectives.
» THE LIST: Georgia crime cases featured on true-crime shows and podcasts
You can find the AJC's coverage of other "ATL Homicide" cases here.
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Nov. 17, 2005
DeKalb briefs | Man gets life sentence in murder of friend
An Atlanta man has been sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years in the murder and robbery of his boyfriend. A DeKalb Superior Court jury last week convicted Wayne Matthews, 34, of killing Jimmy Atkins, 51. Atkins' body was found bound with duct tape in his town home in East Lake Village on Nov. 5, 2003. He had been strangled. Matthews' stepbrother, Ricardo Love of Atlanta, testified he saw the attack. Authorities also showed bank photos of Matthews using the victim's bank card shortly after the killing. Judge Clarence Seeliger imposed the sentence.
[NOTE: The "ATL Homicide" show stated that Atkins' body was discovered on Nov. 8, 2003.]
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Learn more about the trial against Wayne Matthews here.
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» MORE: Read the AJC's coverage of the cases in "ATL Homicide" Season 1
» RELATED: How the AJC covered the events in "The First 48 Presents: Homicide Squad Atlanta"
» THE LIST: Georgia crime cases featured on true-crime shows and podcasts
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