ANOTHER FULTON COUNTY COLD CASE MURDER CONVICTION

Scott Davis Sentenced to Life in Prison for Grisly 1996 Arson Murder

          He had moved to California and even run for governor there. He thought he had gotten away with murder. But on December 4, 2006, a Fulton County Superior Court jury found 41-year-old Scott Winfield Davis guilty of malice murder and felony murder in the 1996 murder of David Coffin, Jr. at his Atlanta home in the Buckhead neighborhood. Coffin, one of the heirs to a chemical company fortune, had been shot, doused with gasoline and his home set on fire.

          Davis's former wife testified she and Coffin had begun dating before he was murdered. She had filed for divorce from Davis and they were living apart. The jury also heard testimony that just days before the murder, Scott Davis broke into Coffin's home-after hiring a private investigator to locate the address-and stole Coffin's Porsche automobile and a 9 mm Beretta, the murder weapon. Prosecutors Sheila Ross, Kellie Hill and Pete Johnson convinced the jury that Davis had staged attacks on himself and set fire to his own home in a bizarre attempt to deflect attention from the actual arson and murder of Coffin.

          Upon his conviction, Davis was sentenced to life in prison by Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell.

Contact: Lyn Vaughn, 404.730.6860 (office); 770.597.6963 (cell); lyn.vaughn@co.fulton.ga.us