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FIRST ON FOX: Georgia police body camera video obtained by Fox News Digital shows the on-again, off-again boyfriend of a murdered woman’s daughter, arrested outside her home last September for violating a no-contact order and banging on her door in a dispute over money, which he claimed. he was diverting directly from his account despite an ugly breakup.
Debbie Collier, 59, was found dead in brutal circumstances earlier this month, a day after police say she sent her daughter Amanda Bearden, 36, a $2,385 payment through Venmo app and a strange message suggesting she was being held against her will. Investigators, however, publicly ruled out both kidnapping and suicide last week.
DEBBIE COLLIER’S MURDER: THREATNING NOTE AGAINST FAMILY REVEALED: REPORT
Deputies found Collier stripped at the bottom of an embankment on a country road 60 miles from his home in Athens, lying on his back with his hand holding onto a tree, and with “chars” on his abdomen. There was debris from a fire nearby, as well as a partially burned blue tarp and a red handbag. His rented Chrysler Pacifica, which led police to his location, was abandoned on the side of the road. The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation into Collier’s murder, had not publicly identified any suspects or persons of interest in the case as of Saturday.
Bearden, the daughter who received the cryptic Venmo payment, has a long criminal record, including domestic violence cases involving a series of men dating back more than a decade. Investigators served a search warrant on his home just days after his mother’s remains were found in Habersham County, Fox News Digital reported Friday. Her current boyfriend, Andrew Giegerich, 27, has pleaded guilty to numerous crimes against Bearden over the past three years, and even though she had an order of protection against him last fall, they appear to have reconciled and have been seen together at their home. week
DEBBIE COLLIER’S MURDER: DAUGHTER WHO RECEIVED $2.3K VENMO BEFORE MOTHER’S MURDER HAS CRIMINAL HISTORY
Andrew Giegerich appears on police body camera video outside Amanda Bearden’s Athens, Georgia home after a domestic call on Sept. 4, 2021.
(Athens-Clarke County Police Department)
On Sept. 4, 2021, Giegrich showed up at her door in violation of the restraining order, according to police documents.
Bearden called police and complained that Giegerich, whom she had broken up with and kicked out, arrived around 8:30 a.m. and began “banging on the door and yelling,” according to the police report. incident
He told the responding officers that he had been stealing the checks directly from him.
“I didn’t have a phone because my phone broke, so this is the dumbest mistake I’ve ever made. [made,] we linked our cards so she can send herself money from my card,” she tells agents. “The first person that touches my money is her.”
DEBBIE COLLIER CASE: CRIMINAL PROFILE WARNS OF POSSIBLE ‘YOUNG SERIAL KILLER’ AFTER MURDER OF MISSING MOTHER
Debbie Collier’s daughter and husband reported her missing after she sent a cryptic message along with $2,385 via Venmo.
(Debbie Collier/Facebook)
“That’s the only reason we’ve had contact, because every week he takes $500 or $600 out of my check, and I don’t see how that’s right,” Giegerich tells police at the start of the body camera video, when asked why did he break the no contact order. “And she goes off and gets high with my money.”
He claimed she had “manipulated” him into having free access to his money and treated him badly.
“[She can] Basically, do whatever she wants for me, kick me out whenever she wants, basically do whatever,” he tells the officers. “And that’s okay because I’m a man. There’s nothing I can do about it but let it go and go.”
READ THE INCIDENT REPORT:
Giegerich told police she didn’t have a phone and had allowed Bearden to link her card to hers before they parted ways. But after the split, which appears to have been on difficult terms, he claimed she continued to take money directly from his account. During the encounter, he also briefly mentioned Collier in a rambling sentence while being questioned by police.
“I’ve been arrested before, the last time I was arrested for forging whatever it was, I mean his mother,” he said. “I don’t know what the problem is here. I don’t know why I dislike it so much.”
He told the officer that he had even taken care of Bearden after he was hit by a car.
DEBBIE COLLIER MURDER: GEORGIA INVESTIGATORS EXECUTED SEARCH WARRANT AT DAUGHTER’S HOME, DOCUMENT REVEALS
Throughout the encounter, the police repeatedly told her that she could not be on Bearden’s property in violation of the order and that she should seek relief in civil court if she had been stealing his money.
Police eventually arrested Giegerich for violating the warrant, and he began to cry as he was handcuffed.
He begged the officers to let him talk to Bearden. They finally relented and told her they would ask her if she was willing, but moments later informed her that she didn’t want to.
He was heard telling the arresting officers that it wasn’t fair and asked if he could go home. At the moment, he began to cry.
Amanda Bearden is seen outside her residence in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, September 23, 2022. Bearden’s mother, Debbie Collier, was the victim of a brutal murder, her body was found on September 11 of 2022.
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Giegerich’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DEBBIE COLLIER’S MURDER: GEORGIA WOMAN REVEALS BLACK EYE AFTER ‘FALL’ 2020
On the drive to the county jail, he appeared agitated in the back seat, pounding on the cage and crying and worried that he would be locked up “until November.” The officer tried to comfort him, telling him that he would probably be released the next morning.
Giegerich maintained throughout the conversation that he does not use drugs, but believed that Bearden was using his money to buy “drugs.”
“He’s probably on drugs now,” he told police outside his home, minutes before he was handcuffed.
Amanda Bearden and her boyfriend, Andrew Tyler Giegerich, are seen outside their residence in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, September 23, 2022. Bearden’s mother, Debbie Collier, was the victim of a brutal murder, her body found on September 11, 2022.
(Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
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But last week, after a judge jailed him for six days for another probation violation, his release order requires him to show proof of substance abuse treatment within 20 days.
Anyone with information about Collier’s case is asked to contact Habersham Sheriff’s investigators Cale Garrison or George Cason at 706-839-0559 or 706-839-0560, respectively.
