On a Sunday morning in January 2017, the body of 27-year-old Courtney Danielle Wells was discovered along a dirt road in Guyton, Georgia. A native of Jesup who had been living in Effingham County for seventeen years, she was a mother of four. An investigation by the Effingham County Sheriff's Office soon began into what was deemed a suspicious death.
Investigators found Wells' belongings on the opposite side of the road from her body.
It was determined that she had died from multiple gunshot wounds to her head, neck, torso, and upper extremities. Among her possessions was a letter with her name on it that led authorities to the home of Scott Pinholster, a man with whom Wells had been in a romantic relationship.
The investigation revealed a tumultuous series of events leading to Wells' death. After an argument with Pinholster, Wells had sought refuge with another man, Tony Arnsdorff. When Arnsdorff attempted to take her back to Pinholster, she left. Pinholster and Arnsdorff then located Wells, leading to a confrontation where Arnsdorff struck her and Pinholster shot her multiple times with a shotgun.
Authorities arrested both Scott Pinholster, then 42, and Tony Arnsdorff in connection with the murder. In March 2018, an Effingham County grand jury indicted both men on multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another. Arnsdorff was tried in September 2019, found guilty on all charges, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Pinholster was also convicted and sentenced to life without parole plus 15 years. The Georgia Supreme Court later upheld the convictions for both men. Scott Pinholster was killed in prison in February 2022 while his case was in the appeals process.
