Investigators have arrested a second suspect and filed additional criminal charges against a man who ran a funeral home where 18 decomposing bodies were found, the GBI said Sunday.
The GBI also said it has now identified the remains of 16 of those found in Johnson Funeral Home in Coffee County. While the investigation continues, investigators have uncovered additional evidence for more charges, the GBI said.
The former funeral home director, Chris Johnson, and another man, James A. Sirmans, are now accused of attempting to profit from fraudulent insurance claims, among other crimes, according to the GBI.
In late October, Johnson, 39, of Douglas was charged with 17 counts of abuse of a dead body. While serving an eviction notice at Johnson Funeral Home, Coffee County deputies found the 18 bodies, the GBI previously said.
Johnson is now facing additional charges and Sirmans, 52, of Fitzgerald, has also been charged in connection to the case.
State insurance commissioner John F. King has charged Johnson with theft by deception, forgery, submitting fraudulent vital records, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and two counts of insurance fraud. The GBI also charged Johnson with theft by taking and six counts of violation of vital records registration in relation to the ongoing investigation.
Johnson remains in the Coffee jail. Meanwhile, King also charged Sirmans with two counts of insurance fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. He was arrested and booked into the Coffee jail and later released on bond.
“These charges stem from a 2023 investigation into an attempt by Sirmans to fraudulently obtain additional life insurance proceeds by altering the cause of death on a death certificate in 2022,” the GBI said in a press release.
The GBI said investigators notify families once the remains are identified, but the agency is not publicly releasing the names.
Credit: Courtesy
Credit: Courtesy
“The GBI Crime Lab is continuing to evaluate the cremains that have been turned over to determine if they are human remains,” the agency said. “The GBI also continues its work to verify the cremation information and whether cremains were sent to the correct families, as well as other investigative leads.”
Last week, the Payne family told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they were informed by investigators that DNA tests had confirmed the identity of Steven Allen Payne, an asphalt-milling foreman who died of lung cancer on May 24 at age 63.
On Friday morning, Steven Payne’s relatives gathered to say their final goodbyes to him for a second time.
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