Woodstock Bakery Co-Owner Stabbed 32 Times: Prosecutors

By Doug Gross

MARIETTA, GA — A Stockbridge man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Cobb County jury this week convicted him in the bizarre and brutal murder of a bakery co-owner. Johnathan Wheeler, 35, was found guilty on charges that included malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and first-degree burglary.

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences without parole. Wheeler stabbed Jerry L. Moore 32 times at the victim's Marietta home on Jan. 25, 2014. Moore was the co-owner of Best Dang Bakery Around in Woodstock where Wheeler briefly worked. According to prosecutors, the business wasn't doing well, and he wanted out of the arrangement.

Moore's partner and former roommate, Ross Byrne, was a "business mentor" to Wheeler, according to the Cobb County District Attorney's office. Byrne moved out a few weeks before Moore was killed. Prosecutors describe Wheeler as a convicted felon who had already spent 10 years in state prison for crimes including armed robbery, during which he had used a knife.

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Late on Jan. 25, 2014, Wheeler drove to Moore's home on Gracewood Drive near Sandy Plains Road in East Cobb and used a key to get inside. Moore's 32 stab wounds included multiple stabs to the back.

"This was a relentless, sustained, malicious attack by a cold-blooded killer," Chief Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans told jurors in his closing statements. "The defendant pursued, out of greed and out of malice. No human being should ever have this inflicted on them."

When he left the scene, Wheeler drove to Byrne's new home, prosecutors said. Soon afterward, Wheeler confessed the murder to his cousin, with whom he was having a sexual relationship. The next day, the two went back to Moore's home to clean up and steal some items. She was convicted of burglary and tampering, and testified as a witness at Wheeler's trial. Wheeler also confessed the crime to his brother and his stepfather.

Photo: Jerry L. Moore. Credit: Cobb County District Attorney's Office