Crisp man pleads guilty to Dooly murder

Heath Thomas Register sentenced to two life sentences plus probation

VIENNA, GA – A Cordele man pleads guilty to murdering his former girlfriend’s love interest, garnering two life in prison sentences.

Monday, 41 year old Health Thomas Register pleaded guilty to counts of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime as well as two counts of aggravated assault.

Register’s guilty pleas are in connection to the June 13, 2020 murder of 52 year old Robert Davis, who was found dead in his Swearingen Road home in Vienna.

Cordele Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Rigby says Register shot Davis at close range with a rifle before kidnapping an ex-girlfriend who had been dating Davis at the time of the shooting.

Rigby says Register was later captured in Crisp County after releasing the woman.

Judge Denise Fanchini sentenced Register to two life sentences with the possibility of parole plus an additional ten years on probation, if paroled.

Rigby wishes to thank the Crisp & Dooly County Sheriff’s Offices as well as the GBI and Georgia State Patrol.