3 bodies found in 2 homes along rural road in Lamar County

LAMAR COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Deputies in Lamar County are trying to piece together what led to the death of three people in two separate houses along a rural road Thursday. Lamar County Sheriff Brad White gave a preliminary timeline of their investigation during a 7 p.m. press conference.

Sheriff White said at 1:57 p.m., deputies responded to 159 Fredonia Church Road after receiving a call from a family member.

Faye Buckner told FOX 5 News she went to the home and pushed open the front door searching for her nephew, 50-year-old Al Ogletree, after getting a call from his employer wondering where he was.

“And I reached in and felt his foot and that’s when I called 911,” said Buckner.

When a sheriff’s captain arrived, he was able to get inside and confirm Ogletree was deceased. White said there was trauma to his head and the scene was not adding up, so they asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigations’ crime scene technicians to help them document the scene.

About 39 minutes later, Sheriff White said they received another call, but this time it was from next door at 234 Fredonia Church Road. The wife of one of the residents had call authorities after finding two men inside the home unresponsive. Inside, deputies said they found the bodies of 88-year-old Charles Sutton and 54-year-old Frenchie Fambro, who both lived at the home.

"You know we had people of concern. Both of these families are life-long residents of Lamar County,” loved by many," Sheriff White said.

White said they found evidence in the second home which led investigators to believe the scenes, which are less than 500 feet apart, were connected and that this was a possible double murder-suicide. All three men suffered trauma to the head, White said, which they believe were gunshot wounds.

“Both of these are connected and that this would be a double murder suicide,” said the sheriff said.

A weapon was found on Fambro, White said, but investigators are not ready to say exactly what happened or if he was the gunman.

"We don't know yet, we would certainly point to him as the shooter, but that's still under investigation," the sheriff said.

The sheriffs said they don’t believe there is a shooter on the loose and while they have fragments of a motive, they are not prepared to release that information.

In early September of 2011, Frenchie Fambro made headlines after a deadly shooting at Junior’s Food Mart in Barnesville.

"Best I can remember, he had pulled up to the gas station and the male subject allegedly accosted him, and got into his driver's side door, and hit him, and that's when the shooting occurred,” the sheriff said.

Fambro was released by the court on a “stand your ground” decision and charges were dismissed. The sheriff said outside of this incident, he can't think of anyone saying anything bad about the three men or their involvement in any illicit activities.

Buckner said there was no indication of any problems among the people involved.

"We certainly ask everybody who's watching this to keep them in their prayers, the family in their prayers and the communities,” the sheriff said.

He said robbery is not a motive.

The sheriff said Sutton is the stepfather of Fambro and Fambro and Ogletree are first cousins.