COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – An arrest has been made in a Columbus cold case murder after 17 years. Police say Alvin Shane Barfield has been arrested in connection to the 2003 murder of Albert Woolfolk.
On July 18, 2003, Woolfolk’s body was found by his mother and one of his employees inside his home located at 2634 Habersham Avenue. Police say Woolfolk had been stabbed.
Over the years, several detectives were assigned to the case, but a break in the case did not come.
Then in February 2020, Detective Stuart Carter began taking a new look at Woolfolk’s case.
While investigating the case, Det. Carter was able to located physical evidence that linked Barfield to Woolfolk’s murder. Police currently are not sharing what the evidence was that linked Barfield to Woolfolk’s murder.
With the physical evidence an arrest warrant was issued for Barfield on Dec. 29, 2020. Following the warrant, the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Unit began hunting for Barfield, eventually finding him and taking him into custody on Jan. 21, 2021 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Currently Barfield is being held in the J. Rueben Detention Center in Conway, South Carolina awaiting extradition back to Columbus.
Columbus Police Chief Freddy Blackmon says Det. Carter’s example demonstrates why officers take their oath.
“As a matter of public safety, as law enforcement officers, with take an oath to faithfully and justifully perform the duties of a police officer. This investigation is evident, Det. Carter and previously mentioned officers, honored their oath, ” said Chief Blackmon.
Police seemed to believe that one of the men was a possible suspect in the murder, while the other two men were possible witnesses. Police described the man they believed to be a suspect as a white male between 25-to-28-years-old back in 2003. Other identifying characteristics included: He was between 5′ 10″ and 6′ ft. tall with a medium build. He enjoyed playing pool, so he frequented not only Coach’s, but also the Red Rider Lounge, then, too, inside the same Gentian Blvd.
