Athens-Clarke County Police Department cracks 2002 cold case

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department says in a statement that with the help of the Dekalb County Probation Office, GBI and FBI, detectives secured an arrest warrant on May 8 for Abdus Salaam Laroche, a 34-year-old from Decatur. Laroche is being charged in the August 2002 murder of 49-year-old Pamela Crisler. Officers found Crisler dead on Aug. 21, 2002 at the College Place Apartments at 2360 West Broad Street and ruled the death a homicide following an autopsy by the GBI crime lab. The Athens-Clarke County Police conducted a subsequent investigation but were unable to identify a suspect until new DNA evidence surfaced in November 2017. The DNA identified Laroche as the suspect. Detectives ask anyone with information to contact Sgt. David Norris at (706) 613-3888 ext. 556.