In September 2006, Doris Worrell was shot and killed inside her and husband Jon Worrell’s shared business in Douglas, Georgia. Nearly two decades later, Jon was arrested and accused of hiring a hitman to commit his wife’s murder. Though the case ran cold in the public’s eye for many years, investigators continued to work on it. Coffee County, Georgia, Sheriff Fred Cole exclusively tells In Touch that they’ve found new leads, including a potential identity for the person hired to kill Doris.

“We’re still under an open investigation on the case, and I’d rather not indulge that, but we have a good idea,” Cole tells In Touch Investigates’ Kristin Thorne.

Jon was arrested in Missouri on May 23 and charged with malice murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery. He was extradited back to Georgia. Though Jon has not yet issued a plea, his lawyers say he has no criminal past.

On September 20, 2006, Doris was found dead at 39 years old inside Jon’s Sports Park. Authorities initially believed that she was the victim of a robbery gone wrong, and Jon, 58, was portrayed as a “grieving husband.” However, as investigators dug into Jon and Doris’ relationship, they found evidence of an affair between Jon and their live-in nanny, Paola Yarberry, whom Doris had welcomed into their family when she was a teenager and had nowhere else to stay.

According to police, Yarberry is not considered a suspect in Doris’ murder. However, it is believed that Jon hired someone to kill his wife because of the affair.

“Jon was concerned that if he divorced Doris, he would lose his children,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Jason Seacrist said in a press conference. “And it’s those thoughts that led him to begin recruiting someone to murder his wife.”

After Doris’ murder, Jon and Yarberry moved to Costa Rica, where they continued to raise his and Doris’ three children. According to Jon’s attorney, they decided to move because they had been harassed by some members of the community who believed Jon was responsible for Doris’ death.

Jon and the nanny ultimately ended their relationship, with the former moving to Missouri and the latter remaining in Costa Rica. Authorities traveled to Costa Rica to further investigate Jon’s involvement in Doris’ death, where Yarberry provided details that led to his arrest, according to a May 20 press release from the GBI.

“I want to be clear. This case has never been forgotten,” Cole said in a press conference at the time. “While the road has been long and often frustrating, we never gave up. Justice delayed is still justice. Today, we honor Doris and her loved ones with this long-awaited breakthrough.”

Cole tells In Touch that he was “excited” by the prospect of finally getting closure in this case.

“Every family deserves closure, you know? And this family is no different. Nineteen years is a long time to go without any answers. And, you know, we just felt like the family needed closure. We knew they wanted closure,” he says. “The Worrell children grew up not knowing their mom, and it’s just like it would [be] in any case, you want to be able to bring closure to the family, and that’s why we work at it so hard.”