Haralson County Superior Court Judge Richard Sutton on Wednesday sentenced a Villa Rica man to life in prison for the 2007 slaying of Robert “Bobby” Shane Timms.

A jury on Friday deliberated for about two hours late Friday afternoon before convicting Cleve Michael McCain of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and possession of a firearm while on first offense probation.

McCain will not be eligible for parole until 30 years are served. McCain was sentenced to five additional consecutive years for the charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

McCain’s uncle, Kenneth Doyle Folsom, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on Feb. 5. Folsom’s sentence was also finalized Wednesday — he was sentenced to 20 years in prison with credit for time served. All other counts against Folsom were dismissed.

Timms, 21, of Haralson County was reported missing June 19, 2007, from his Hamilton Avenue home. His body was discovered at the bottom of a well on a vacant property off Old Ridgeway Road near Bremen on July 20, 2007. Timms died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head. On July 31, 2007, McCain, then 25, and Folsom, then 39, were arrested after an investigation by Haralson County Sheriff’s Office, Bremen police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant Defense Attorney Brian Howard contended that McCain murdered Timms during the early morning hours of June 19.

According to Howard’s opening statement March 8, Timms and McCain did not get along due to the fact that Timms was in a relationship with McCain’s cousin. McCain also allegedly thought his wife was having an affair with Timms’ friend, Ken Waters. Timms and Waters also reportedly angered McCain by telling people that McCain violated his probation by possessing a gun, Howard said. A week before the murder, Howard said McCain got into fights with both Timms and Waters.

In closing statements Friday, Howard played a voice mail message from May 26 during which McCain said to Timms, “If I see you out there, I’ll cut your head off and you can take that to the police.”

The night of Timms’ disappearance, phone records showed McCain had called Timms seven times from 1:13 a.m. to 3:10 a.m. Howard said he tried to get Timms’ friend, Waters, to go out around the same time, but Waters did not. McCain allegedly suspected Waters was having an affair with his wife. Because Timms thought he and McCain were friends, Howard alleged, Timms agreed to go out with McCain and Folsom.

McCain’s behavior after Timms’ disappearance and during the police investigation was also questionable, Howard told the jury. For example, Howard said, McCain’s neighbors said he asked them for their garbage, and Timms’ body was found under layers of carpet and cardboard. Two witnesses testified that they drove by the well’s property and saw McCain there before Timms’ body was found. McCain also told his cousin that Timms disappeared because he went to Arkansas “to deflect suspicion,” according to Howard.

Howard said Folsom could not have committed the murder alone because he was not physically able to load Timms’ body onto the truck and into the well because he had health problems, weighed 450 pounds, and was on medication and using an oxygen tank around the time of the murder.

Public Defender Karen Wilkes argued during the closing statements that there was not enough evidence to show that McCain murdered Timms and that physical evidence pointed to Folsom.

The murder weapon was Folsom’s .380 pistol, Wilkes said, and on June 25 he pawned the gun in Carrollton after being questioned by police. Folsom’s truck was used to drive Timms to the isolated area off McBrayer Road and Highway 27 the morning of the Timms disappearance. However, testing on blood samples taken from Folsom’s truck was inconclusive.

Folsom had “a beef” with Timms and had pulled a gun on him before, Wilkes said. In addition, the well where Timms body was found was on hunting property Folsom was familiar with.

Because of Folsom’s age, 41, Wilkes said an aggravated assault plea benefited him rather than a murder conviction, which would lead to a longer sentence.

“A crime of this nature may only take one life but shatters many lives. I ask the community to remember all those impacted in their prayers,” said Haralson County Sheriff Eddie Mixon.