US man who lived abroad with his family’s nanny is charged in wife’s murder

After arriving at the family business in Douglas, Georgia, and finding his wife fatally shot on Sept. 20, 2006, Jon Worrell called 911 and crumpled to the ground in sobs.

His wife, Doris, was 39 when she was killed. The couple had three children who at the time were under the age of 12.

She died of a gunshot to the head at their business, Jon’s Sports Park, amid its arcade, batting cage, go-kart track and mini-golf course. It was a recreational destination for families in that rural part of southern Georgia, about 130 miles southwest of Savannah.

With such a backdrop, investigators and others in the city of about 12,000 first thought that Worrell was as he appeared, a devastated husband.

Authorities said they initially believed that his wife died in a bungled robbery attempt or by someone in retaliation for being barred from the amusement park by Worrell.

But on Friday, they said they had no doubts that he was behind her death, even though authorities said he was not there at the time of the killing and have yet to determine who shot her.

“Jon instigated a conspiracy to commit this murder,” said Jason Seacrist, lead agent on the case for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Worrell, 57, was arrested Tuesday and charged with malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery. He was denied bond during his first court appearance Friday. He did not have a lawyer present.

Two men, who had been park employees, were arrested 17 years ago for conspiracy to kill Doris Worrell. But, Seacrist said, the charges were dropped after several weeks because of a lack of evidence. One of the men has since died, and the other was recently released from prison in an unrelated case, he said.

The investigation into the killing had gone cold until investigators traveled to Costa Rica and found the family’s former live-in nanny, who was willing to cooperate.

The information she gave corroborated evidence that authorities had been collecting for years, they said. That led to Worrell’s arrest at his home in Maryville, Missouri, on Tuesday.

Sheriff Fred Cole of Coffee County, Georgia, said Friday that he felt relieved.

“This case was never forgotten,” he said. “And while the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice.”

In 2006, the Worrells had a live-in nanny from Venezuela, Paola Yarberry, who also worked at Jon’s Sports Park. Yarberry, who was 18 when Doris Worrell was killed, was working in another area of the park on the day she died, officials said.

Investigators soon learned that the Worrells were having marital issues, some of which were caused by what Seacrest described as Worrell’s “inappropriate relationship” with Yarberry.

Investigators said Jon Worrell worried that a divorce would cause him to lose access to his children. He then began looking for someone to kill his wife, they said.

Several months after the killing, Yarberry, who was not a U.S. citizen, was arrested in connection to her immigration status. She spent months at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center before being deported to Venezuela.

A district attorney in Georgia said at the time of her arrest that he believed that she was withholding information crucial to a murder investigation and that Worrell had become the main suspect.

Investigators said Worrell moved in 2007 to Florida, where he lived briefly, and then to Costa Rica in 2008.

Yarberry soon joined Worrell in Costa Rica, where they ran an ice-selling business as they lived together as a couple for years and raised the three Worrell children.

Investigators pursued leads, domestically and internationally, and they learned in the past few years that Worrell and Yarberry had ended their romantic relationship and that Worrell had moved back to the United States. He bought a home in Maryville in March, according to property records.

Investigators said they reviewed the case again and went to Costa Rica, where Yarberry eventually cooperated, giving them the breakthrough they had sought almost two decades ago.

They said they do not consider her a suspect. They did not disclose what critical information Yarberry had revealed to help the investigation. She could not be located Saturday for comment.

Speaking at the news conference Friday, Doris Worrell’s sister, LeAnn Tuggle, remembered her as a generous person.

“Sometimes she was too kind for her own good,” Tuggle said, pointing to Doris Worrell welcoming Yarberry into her home.

“Paola did not have a place to stay,” Tuggle said. “She was by herself. She was about 14 or 15 years old, and my sister said, ‘Sure, you can stay on our sofa.’ Well, the nights on the sofa got longer. She stayed longer. Her being kind is ultimately what caused her death.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2025 The New York Times Company