Ahmaud Arbery: 'Credible tip' suggests mystery note at shooting site is from someone with links to McMichaels
Lawyers representing slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery's family are still looking for possible leads on a mysterious note left at the shooting site. They have reportedly obtained new information and relayed it to authorities, hoping to tie its author to the case. In a conversation with TMZ, attorney Lee Merritt revealed that he and his team of investigators received a "credible tip" claiming the individual who wrote the note shares ties to either Gregory and Travis McMichael or their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan, who filmed Arbery's killing on his cellphone.
"Ahmaud, I am so sorry. I should have stopped them. I am so sorry," the note reads.
According to Merritt, the tip was anonymous but allegedly came from someone residing in Brunswick. The tipster allegedly said the note's handwriting caught their attention. While the cryptic note did not bear a signature or any other context, it seemed to insinuate that there is another witness to the case who is not being investigated.
Nonetheless, Merritt has now shared the tip with both the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as well as the DA's Office.
This comes after the GBI clarified that it had already identified the author and found he or she was not connected to the murder investigation at all. However, Merritt's recent tip has the potential to change that determination.
The McMichaels are currently remanded in custody after being arrested for killing Arbery. Bryan, who captured the disturbing confrontation on camera, has denied any involvement with the father-son duo or chasing the 25-year-old jogger.
Speaking after the two men were arrested, Diego Perez, who lives in the neighborhood, said he had seen them approach Arbery at the same construction site he entered on the day of his death, around two weeks before the shooting. That confrontation, which took place on February 11, was reportedly prompted by a motion-sensor security camera video at the site that had pinged the owner, Larry English, who was two hours away.
English then texted the video to Perez, who lived near the site and had offered to keep watch. Perez then left his home and walked to Satilla Drive, where he came across Travis McMichael driving up from the opposite direction. "Travis saw him in the yard and Travis stopped," Perez said. "He confronted (the man) halfway into the yard. He said (the man) reached for his waistband, and Travis got spooked and went down the road."
Travis returned with his father Gregory, who was armed and called the Glynn County Police Department on Arbery. However, by the time deputies arrived at the scene, the 25-year-old was already gone. Perez said he described the vehicle that he believes Arbery used to get away to the police, who recognized the young man from other security camera videos at the construction site in the months before.
"All we knew about him was that he was the guy who kept showing up on our cameras," he shared. "No one knew who it was."
The next time Perez heard of Arbery, it was on February 23, when he was dead.