A Piedmont man has been indicted on charges of murder in the death of Carla Michelle Cook Fuqua.

Fuqua went missing from her Piedmont home on Oct. 29, 2009.

52-year old Jimmy Ray Steed is accused of killing the 28-year old Fuqua by beating her with a bat or bat-like-object.

On Dec. 4, 2012, investigators from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office and Cold Case Unit discovered Fuqua’s skeletal remains in the woods near her home along Alabama 21 in an area many Piedmont residents refer to as “the brickyard.”

Sheriff Larry Amerson said Steed is considered a suspect in the 1990 disappearances of James Patrick Burrows and Jeffery Scott McFry as well and Steed’s wife, Karen Steed in 1997.

Burrows allegedly disappeared after stealing marijuana plants from David Ronald Chandler of Piedmont.

Chandler was the first person convicted under the federal “drug kingpin” law passed in 1991.

McFry was last seen in his mother’s home on Sept. 5, 1990.

His body has never been found and his disappearance is also thought to stem from stealing marijuana from Chandler.

Jimmy Steed is the brother of Chandler’s so-called “right-hand man,” Bobby Steed, according to Amerson.

Brian McVeigh, Calhoun County district attorney says he believed the circumstances of these cases were not coincidental.

Steed has been in the Calhoun County Jail since Aug. 2, after he was charged with 14 counts of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Just days after his arrest on the drug charges, Steed’s home burned.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office.

A home Steed previously lived in burned in August 2002, shortly after authorities had gained permission from its new owners to search the residence.

Calhoun County Circuit Judge Brian Howell set Steed’s bond for the murder charge at $300,000 cash. Steed is scheduled is appear in court October 17th.

(Anniston Star – www.annistonstar.com)