Ga. gang member killed 2 men, stole jewelry from their bodies, dumped them in lake, DA says

A Troup County man associated with a notorious gang will serve four consecutive life sentences after prosecutors said he murdered two men and then dumped their bodies in a Georgia lake.

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Coweta County District Attorney Herb Cranford said Joshua Wayne Nutt, of LaGrange, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of use of a firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of another felony and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Nutt was a known associate of the Ghost-Faced Gangsters.

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Chief Assistant District Attorney Jack Winne said that on Aug. 8, 2021, Marcus Lee Caswell, Jr., 46, and Travis Michael Lodato, 31, both of Newnan, went to Nutt’s house in an effort to collect money Nutt owed them.

The two men were at Nutt’s house for several hours with Nutt’s girlfriend, who at some point walked out of the house. That’s when Nutt shot Caswell once in the base of the skull and shot Lodato five times, including once in the head.

After shooting the men, Nutt took jewelry and possessions from their bodies, spray-painted Lodato’s motorcycle and drove to Newnan where he planned to break into the victims’ home. The victims remained dead in his home.

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On Aug. 9, prosecutors said Nutt and an accomplice drove the victims across the county and dumped the victims’ bodies in West Point Lake.

A fisherman discovered Caswell’s body later that day. On Aug. 10, a boater discovered Lodato’s body.

Troup County Sheriff’s Office investigators executed a search warrant on Nutt’s home, where they found the victims’ motorcycles locked in a trailer and two pools of blood in Nutt’s crawlspace.

As they were investigating, Nutt drove past the house. He then led TCSO deputies on a chase before they were able to stop him.

DNA, blood and physical evidence tied Nutt to the crime.

Nutt was on parole at the time of the murders and had six prior felony convictions.

“This defendant is a cold-blooded murderer who deserves to die in prison. He chose to live a life of crime, marked by multiple felony convictions in multiple Georgia counties and by his association with the violent criminal street gang known as the Ghostface Gangsters. I am thankful that justice was done for these victims and their families,” prosecutors said.

Nutt’s girlfriend, Abbrianne Marie Williams, was also indicted on charges of murder and robbery.