He Vanished with the Nanny After His Wife Was Shot in 2006. Now He’s Accused of Conspiring to Kill Her

Nearly 20 years after a woman was found shot and killed inside the family business, authorities in Georgia have arrested her husband. 

Jon Worrell, 58, was arrested at his home in Maryville, Mo., on charges of malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and aggravated battery in connection with the 2006 death of his 39-year-old wife, Doris Worrell, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced in a press release shared on Tuesday, May 20.

Jon is being held at the Coffee County Jail in Georgia after having waived extradition in Missouri, authorities said. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.

On Sept. 20, 2006, Doris was found fatally shot inside the family business, Jon’s Sports Park, in Douglas, Ga. Authorities at the time believed Doris was a victim of a robbery gone wrong or that she was killed by a person in retaliation after they were banned from the business by Jon, per the release.

But as years passed, the case went cold. Two employees at the sports park were initially arrested and charged with conspiracy to kill Doris, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, the GBI said. One of the workers has since died.

Investigators now believe that Jon, who appeared to be a “grieving husband” at the scene, planned his wife’s killing, according to Jason Seacrist, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who spoke at a press conference on Friday, May 23. 

Investigators learned that Jon and Doris were having marital issues, which included Jon’s “inappropriate relationship” with his then live-in nanny Paola Yarberry, Seacrist alleged.

“Because of this, Jon was concerned that if he divorced Doris, he would lose his children,” Seacrist told reporters. “And it’s those thoughts that led him to begin recruiting someone to murder his wife.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.   

After Doris’ death, Jon moved to Fernandina, Fla., and then to Costa Rica, where he and Yarberry lived together as a couple and raised Jon and Doris’ children. Yarberry had been deported to Venezuela due to an immigration issue before she joined Jon in Costa Rica, the GBI said. 

In recent years, investigators learned that Jon and Yarberry had ended their romantic relationship and that Jon had moved back to the U.S. Authorities then decided to take a trip to Costa Rica, where Yarberry provided investigators with information that contributed to Jon’s arrest, per the release. 

“I want to be clear. This case has never been forgotten,” Coffee County Sheriff Fred Cole said at the press conference. “While the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice. Today we honor Doris and her loved ones with this long awaited breakthrough.” 

Doris’ older sister, LeAnn Tuggle, thanked law enforcement for their work at the Friday press conference and remembered her late sibling as someone who “loved being a mommy more than anything in this world.”

“She was a very kind person,” she said. “Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,” Tuggle added, noting that Doris allowed Yarberry to stay with the family when she was around 14 or 15 years old since she was by herself.

“Her being kind is what ultimately caused her death,” Tuggle said of her late sister.

The GBI said that once the investigation is complete, the case will be handed over to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.