83-year-old was stabbed seven times, says preliminary autopsy

Peggy Gamble, the 83-year-old grandmother who was found slain in her Eighth Street home on Monday, was stabbed seven times, according to a preliminary autopsy report.

Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said Gamble’s death was a homicide but didn’t specify where she was struck. A relative found her body in a hallway adjacent to a bedroom about 1 p.m. Monday and she was pronounced dead at 1:34 p.m. The coroner said she had been dead eight to 10 hours at the 2324 Eight St. home before her body was found.

Angelo Short, a 42-year-old man described as a person of interest by police in the death, is held in the Muscogee County Jail on one count each of theft by taking motor vehicle, robbery and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Police were unavailable late Saturday to comment on whether additional charges may be filed.

During a Recorder’s Court hearing last week, police said someone broke into the victim’s home and her 1988 Toyota was missing. Police said Short was spotted by witnesses driving the victim’s vehicle with an unidentified passenger the night Gamble was killed.

The woman’s missing car was found on 10th Street late Monday night. Short was taken into custody late Tuesday in an abandoned apartment on Lawyers Lane.

Earlier that day, a man matching Short’s description is accused of snatching a carton of cigarettes from a cashier at the Piggly Wiggly at 910 Brown Ave., and punching her in the left eye before fleeing.

Bryan said more information on Gamble’s death will be available when the final report is released.

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 7:10 PM with the headline "83-year-old was stabbed seven times, says preliminary autopsy."