A woman from Atlanta, Georgia was convicted of murdering her fiance and hiding his body for two months before police found him in her home.
A Hall County jury found 46-year-old Tabitha Zelida Wood guilty of killing her fiancé and then lying about it for two months, as per court documents.
Victim Leroy Franklin Kramer, Jr’s stepdaughter contacted the police in June 2022 out of concern for his whereabouts after not hearing from him for a while.
Deputies from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office made the disturbing find when they went to Kramer’s home to see how he was doing. After discovering Kramer’s decomposing body inside the house, police promptly arrested Wood.
The police questioned Wood about the man’s death. She said Kramer had died at the beginning of April and that she had kept his body at home ever since.
The autopsy performed on Kramer led the medical examiner to the conclusion that he had been murdered. A combination of blunt and sharp force trauma led to Kramer’s death, according to the autopsy report. According to the indictment, Wood struck Kramer multiple times, causing severe trauma to his neck and chest. There is no mention of the weapon.
Friday, March 17, after less than an hour of deliberation, the jury found Wood guilty of malice murder, aggravated assault, two felony murder counts, concealing the death of a person, exploiting an older adult, and theft of financial transaction cards.
It was reported in the Gainesville Times that Kramer told the friend who set them up that he was sick of being alone and would appreciate some assistance. A year after they started dating, Wood moved into his house.
According to the article, Wood stated that Kramer “became aggressive” and would beat her with a belt, especially when she refused to have sexual relations with him.
On the night of the murder, Wood says she rejected his sexual advances. She testified that she had thrown out Kramer from the premises and suggested that she may have blacked out during the argument. She reportedly stayed with the man’s body for three days before hiding it inside the house because she was afraid no one would believe her story.