Former Law Enforcement react to Labor Day Murder Arrest

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- For family and friends of Kathryn Crigler and Betty, Jones closure could soon be on its way.

But they aren’t the only ones happy to see an arrest made in the case.

For nearly 30 years this case has been on the minds of those who first stepped foot on the scene.

Their hard work and dedication then made it possible for investigators now to make the breakthrough they needed.

It was a call former Oktibbeha County Sheriff Dolph Bryan had been waiting on for years. An arrest had been made in the Labor Day Murders.

“I am tickled to death that this case an arrest has been made in this case its been going on for so long and you know I knew all the victims I know the family members and everybody has worked so hard for so long, and Bill Lott has done an excellent job of putting this case together.”

Even after all these years he still remembers the night in 1990 when he got that call.

“David Linley who was chief of detectives at the time called me that night, and he said he wanted me to come and he told me where and I knew exactly where the house was because I knew where the Criglers lived. It was a really bloody scene, and it was a hard case to work, but we tried to gather evidence that night and preserve the scene as best we could we had a lot of help from a lot of other agencies and a lot of boys and girls worked a lot of hours trying to put this case together.”

That hard work paved the way for a breakthrough nearly three decades later.

“We knew we had to collect this evidence and preserve it, so one day we could solve this case.”

Even though Bryan is enjoying his retirement, he has followed this case, and the progress made by Sergeant Bill Lott.

“Bill pretty well kept me up to speed on what was going on I was kind of looking for this arrest but I was really glad when he called me and told me that they had got him.”

During Bryan’s time as sheriff, there were other cases that went cold. He believes this arrest could change that.

“I hope this will maybe spur on some more work on some of the other older cases that I think can be solved with the DNA. We have a case that is a decade older than this one that I would love to see be solved.”

Bryan says they always had hope that technology would evolve enough to bring a suspect to light.