More than a year after Lawrence Perry, 54, was shot near the former Columbus facility of Aludyne and later died from his injuries, a second suspect in his killing has finally faced a judge. Joseph Griswold was extradited from Alabama to Columbus on September 30 and appeared in Recorder's Court Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty to a murder charge before his case was bound over to Superior Court.
Griswold had been sitting in the Russell County Jail in Phenix City, Alabama, on unrelated charges before his extradition, according to the original report from cnaw2news.com, which cited the Columbus Police Department. Phenix City sits directly across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, and the extradition underscores how often Columbus homicide cases stretch across the Georgia-Alabama line, as the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has reported in covering similar cross-border arrests involving Lee and Russell counties.
Shots Fired Near Former Aludyne Facility on Northside Industrial Boulevard
The case traces back to September 3, 2025, when Columbus police officers responded to the 1600 block of Northside Industrial Boulevard just after 6:16 a.m. following reports of shots fired. Aludyne's Columbus production facility is no longer active. Around the same time, St. Francis Hospital reported a shooting victim, and investigators determined the two incidents were connected.
Perry had been transported to St. Francis Hospital, where he later died from his injuries. The Columbus Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit led the investigation, which quickly identified a second suspect, 32-year-old Walter Bethune.
One Suspect Caught Within Hours, the Other a Year Later
Unlike Griswold, Bethune did not wait a year to be taken into custody. The Columbus Police Department Fugitive Unit and the Lee County Sheriff's Office located and arrested him the same day as the shooting in Smiths Station, Alabama, holding him at the Lee County Jail while awaiting extradition to Columbus on a murder charge, per the Columbus Police Department's account relayed in the original report. Smiths Station sits in Lee County, Alabama, just over the state line from Columbus.
That split timeline — one suspect in custody within hours, the other extradited more than a year later from a separate Alabama jail — reflects how multi-suspect homicide cases in the Columbus area can take vastly different paths depending on where a defendant happens to be held. Griswold's case moved from Recorder's Court, where he appeared for a preliminary hearing, into Muscogee County Superior Court.
What Griswold Faces Under Georgia Law
Under Georgia law, a murder conviction in Superior Court can carry a sentence of life imprisonment, life without parole, or the death penalty, according to the statute cited by Justia. Malice murder and felony murder carry the same sentencing guidelines under that code.
In 2021, Columbus recorded 70 homicides. Officials cited police staffing shortages but said gang violence did not cause most of the homicides.
Local officials have also pointed to targeted enforcement efforts, including a joint Columbus Police Department and ATF operation in late 2024 dubbed Operation D.I.R.E.C.T. Pressure, which resulted in 65 arrests and the recovery of 49 firearms from crime hotspots identified through data analysis. Meanwhile, the Muscogee County Jail has been grappling with overcrowding — the sheriff reported in September 2025 that the facility was over capacity by 160 inmates beyond its 1,067-bed design.
Investigation Continues
The Columbus Police Department says the investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Cpl. M. Ruiz at 706-225-4379 or by email at [email protected], or to submit an anonymous tip to the department.
