Georgia Woman Dismembered, Burned After She Uncovered Boyfriend's Secret Marriage: Police
The remains of Briana Wintson (center) were found in Tennessee and now her boyfriend, his wife and his family all charged in connection with her murder, police said.
May 19 2024, Published 10:03 a.m. ET
Police say the boyfriend of a missing Georgia woman has been charged with murder after her dismembered and burned remains were found in two different locations in Tennessee.
On April 1, Briana Winston, 23, was reported missing after her family became concerned that she had not been seen or heard from since two weeks earlier, according to the Clayton County Police Department.
Relatives said they went to her apartment and saw that it had been “completely cleaned out” by Michale Edwards, her live-in boyfriend and father of her child, police said. They also determined she did not show up to work as scheduled on March 17.
Officials said the woman's disappearance was “exceptionally suspicious in nature,” and they believed she was deceased, so the missing person case turned over to homicide detectives.
Clayton County Police Lt. Ashanti Marbury said investigators traveled to Tennessee on May 6 after they received information that Winston’s remains could be found there.
The following day, on May 7, detectives met with a man who spoke with police after they offered him immunity from charges, according to law enforcement.
The man, who was not publicly identified, alleged to police that Edwards went to Winston’s apartment on March 17, and the pair got into a fight about Edwards’ infidelity.
Authorities said Edwards secretly married Brienna Phillips-Edwards in January, and Winston found out about it.
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During the fight, police said, Edwards allegedly choked Winston, killing her, and he then put her body in a suitcase and went to another location where he and the witness burned her remains in a barrel.
According to police, the two men covered her body in accelerant, lit it on fire and kept the flames going “until she was just skeletal remains.”
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The victim's remains were dropped off the side of the highway and in a cemetery, according to reports.
Authorities have charged Edwards with aggravated assault, malice murder, felony murder, aggravated stalking, and tampering with evidence.
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