True Crime Chronicles: The 1972 death of a Delaware County woman was solved with a deathbed confession in 2023

Georgie Cannaday, 48, lived alone in a rural home near Jay, Delaware County. She had inherited the property from her father, George, who died in March 1973.

On June 28, 1973, Undersheriff Bill Loux found her body upstairs at the foot of her bed. She had been strangled and wrapped in a braided rug. Her dress was pulled up and over her head.

Decomposition indicated she died around June 24. Her purse, containing money and papers, was untouched. Her poodle was unharmed and found beside her.

Cannaday was last seen alive on June 26 at neighbors Johnnie and Francis Byrd’s home.

She had a history of tachycardia and had been declared incompetent in New Mexico years earlier. She lived on welfare and was described by family as simple and independent.

The case went cold due to limited 1970s forensics. OSBI kept a 3-inch file but classified it open-inactive

.In 2021, great-niece Christina Asp saw old family photos and contacted OSBI. This prompted Detective Mark Wall of the Delaware County Cold Case Unit to reopen the case. Wall reinterviewed witnesses and reviewed records.

A key lead came from a woman who, at age 17 in 1973, survived a strangulation attempt by a local teenage boy days before Cannaday’s murder.

In 2023, the primary suspect, now elderly and on his deathbed, confessed to family. He said the killing was unplanned and “got out of hand.” He implicated a neighbor and another person, both deceased.

DNA genealogy confirmed links to the scene. The case was closed in August 2023. No arrests were made due to the suspects’ deaths.

On August 18, 2023, family members, Wall, and OSBI agents met at Zena Cemetery. They placed pink roses...Cannaday’s favorite...on her grave. The home still stands but is unoccupied.