In what was initially reported as a suicide, the death of 77-year-old Thomas Hall Gaines in his Lilburn, Georgia, home on September 14, 2017, was later determined by police to be a homicide. Gaines, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired welder, was found alive by officers when they responded to a call at his Lilburn Stone Mountain Road residence, suffering from a gunshot wound to his mouth. He was transported to Eastside Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Initially, Gaines's stepdaughter, 54-year-old Sandra Christine Olver, who lived with him, informed police that he had shot himself. However, investigators at the scene noted inconsistencies between her account of the events and the physical evidence they observed. Despite their suspicions, there was not enough evidence to arrest her at that time, and she was allowed to leave after being interviewed by the Lilburn Police.
The case took a dramatic turn the following day when Olver's own daughter contacted the police non-emergency line to report that her mother was threatening to commit suicide. When officers arrived at Olver's location and questioned her about why she intended to harm herself, she confessed to having shot her stepfather, Thomas Hall Gaines.
Following her confession, Sandra Christine Olver was taken into custody and subsequently charged with one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault. She was then booked into the Gwinnett County Detention Center, where she was held without bond.
