In January 2014 Ross Byrne orchestrated an event, a very mean event, including his long time friend Jonathan Wheeler.
Forty-four year old Ross Byrne and his family always loved to cook and have big dinners together. He started working at a local bakery in Woodstock, Ga when he was around twenty-seven and he knew he had met his calling. Then in 2007, the owners of this bakery were ready to sell, so of course Mr. Byrne jumped on the offer to buy this bakery. He asked his friend and roommate, Jerry Moore, to come on board. So Mr. Byre and Mr. Moore agreed on a co-ownership 50/50. They each invested the same amount of thousands of dollars i'm sure to get all the equipment up to date and all the transfer of ownership stuff.
The Best Dang Bakery Around opened up for the fine citizens of Cobb County and neighboring counties, January 2008. It came with a new look and a new brand to its new name. They split the duties, Mr. Byre handled the day to day operations of the business, like the baking and hiring help and dealing with customers. He also managed employees, but Mr. Moore did help some in that category of tasks. Mainly he handled the books, the business end of the bakery, and he made no fuss about Mr. Byre being the face of the bakery and he being more behind the scenes.
Unfortunately for the new business owners, the recession hit right in the beginning of their new partnership. Business was not even bad, it was worse. There were days they may get a customer and days they may not. Many small businesses in this nation were in deep trouble and then in 2009, Georgia went under a state of emergency, 1/2 of the entire state flooded and The Best Dang Bakery sat in 3-4 feet of water and it took a long time to clear up. They both agreed it was best to close the bakery down until almost the end of 2010. They did take advantage of this time and added on to the space to start baking and decorating cakes. They also added seating for customers. They reopened just in time for the holidays in 2010. The next few years just went with flow, but money was nothing what Mr. Byre and Mr. Moore expected.
By the end of 2013, it was very obvious, even to customers and their families and friends, the bakery was in trouble.
Background On Jerry Moore
Mr. Moore was 46 years old when he was killed by Jonathan Wheeler on January 27,2014 in is home that he shared with his business partner, up until recently.
He was the co-owner of The Best Dang Bakery in Woodstock, Ga. He was originally from Wooster, Oh. Mr. Moore was a dedicated homeless pet supporter. He financially gave support to PALS ( Pets Are Loving Support)
From all the people I spoke to he was a great and generous man. I was unable to get the typed up draft on the conditions he wanted out of the business, but it was at the end of 2013 when he brought it up to Mr. Byre is what a family member of his told me. ( He asked to stay anonymous.) The past six year business partnership had put a strain on their friendship. They constantly argued about what to change and who knew more about this, that, and the other at the bakery. They even argued about actually who spends more money and whatever else came up that day.
That's when Mr. Byre had moved out of their residence and Mr. Moore began to draft up papers to dissolve the partnership. He wanted Mr. Byre to buy him out his share of the bakery for $35,000.00. Now if you ask me, and depending upon how much was in the business and how much was in the bank, Mr. Byre would not be getting a good deal at all. He would have to worry about selling off equipment, maybe even paying rent for the time the stuff had to sit there until it sold. He would need to basically worry about taking care of everything left, and I'm sure his feelings would be in it too watching his dreams crash down. Then Mr. Moore just takes a check and walks away. No I don't like it.
Well none of that happened, papers were laying on his desk just waiting to be signed at the time of his death. Then that Monday morning January 27, 2014 , a neighbor noticed Mr. Moore's front door open, this concerned this person because it had been several days since the neighbor saw Mr. Moore walking his dogs. when she went in, she found Mr. Moore's body laying on the floor. A detective told me the scene was so bad and very graphic. He said the murder was brutal, and Mr. Moore struggled with the killer or killers before he died. He did give a hell of a fight.
The Cobb County Medical Examiner did rule Mr. Moore's death as a homicide. He was stabbed in the back, I mean come on that tells you something right there, in addition to the back twice Mr. Moore was stabbed thirty-two times total. His murder was very violent and very bloody. Mr. Moore lived in a very safe neighborhood, and with a dog too. You would think someone saw something. He also even had a security system, so that tells a lot about who could have done it. I spoke with some people that knew Mr. Moore and he did use his security system, even when he was home it would be on. With that information, authorities knew it had to be someone that he knew and trusted that killed him.
Authorities started looking into Mr. Moore's life a little closer and discovered he was a long time ebay seller and spent a lot of time in antique shops and flea markets , so could it be someone he met and made a transaction with at his home? They wanted to look into every aspect of his life both business and personal.
Then, eight months after he was murdered, Mr. Moore's killer was identified as 31 year old Jonathan Allen Wheeler was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated assault, and burglary. But, one important question is how did he know Mr. Moore?
In 2010 Jonathan Wheeler was released from prison after serving 9 years for aggravated assault and armed robbery. After being released, he started working at the bakery. Ross began mentoring Jonathan. Eventually Jonathan stopped working at the bakery, but he and Ross remained close. Ross called him right after his business started crumbling. I'm sure it was right after Mr. Moore started saying he wanted Ross to buy his share of the bakery and he makes a clean getaway, Ross and Jonathan started planning something more sinister for Mr. Moore to leave the bakery. On the night of January 25, 2014, Jonathan went over to Mr. Moore's home uninvited. I mean they really didn't know each other. He used Ross's key and entered the house immediately attacking Mr. Moore, stabbing him 32 times with a very large knife. Afterward, Jonathan drove directly to Ross's house to clean himself up. Ross had him a new pair of clothing to ensure no particles were left on him after he showered. Ross was in this up to his eyeballs.
Jonathan confessed later what he did to his cousin, Cynthia. This is a cousin whom Jonathan had been having an affair with. Cynthia then helped him clean the crime scene later, and trashed the house so that it look like some sort of break in.
While investigating, authorities discovered Jonathan and Ross have been in constant contact for months. Also it showed what times and days exactly he was in contact with Cynthia. After the evidence was all cleaned up, Ross's financial records showed him paying Jonathan and Cynthia's bills, as well as, buying them a couple cars. He also sent them on a vacation to the Florida Keys get them outta town for a few days shortly after the murder. And then in August 2014, Jonathan was arrested, and instead of putting distance between them, they began to communicate through letters and phone calls they obviously didn't know were screened. I think Ross actually thought Cynthia and Jonathan would remain loyal to him and not reveal he was the mastermind in this horrible event. But then Cynthia was arrested too. She took a plea in exchange to testify against Jonathan, and in August 2018 Jonathan Wheeler's trial began. Prosecutors laid out their case and they did tell the jury the motive for this malicious act was greed. He explained that Ross Byrne was an " uncharged co-conspirator who orchestrated this cold blooded killing so he could have complete control over the bakery and he would not have to buy out his long time business partner Jerry Moore. He used Jonathan to carry this awful plan out because he himself was a coward. The money he used to pay Jonathan and Cynthia was about all Jerry Moore was asking for. But no, Ross would rather him be dead than pay him one dime. The jury ended up agreeing and Jonathan Wheeler was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to life without parole. And it was then, right after Jonathan's trial, authorities were able to arrest Ross Byrne.
For the last 5 years Ross Byrne had been living life comfortably, while Jonathan and Cynthia did the time. But authorities continue investigating, and of course when they interviewed him, Ross denied everything. Cynthia had already told police Ross was the mastermind and it was his key used and that he helped with the clean-up. Also, he kept some items that Jonathan took from the scene. Now that Mr. Moore was dead, Ross Byrne gained 100 percent of the bakery they owned together.
But because he had been arrested for Mr. Moore's murder, he feared he would still lose it all and end up in prison, so Ross put a hit out on Jonathan from inside the jail. He failed at this and Jonathan is still alive.
Then on April 8th, Ross entered a plea of guilty to violation of the rico act, conspiracy to commit murder, concealing the death of another, conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension of another, and criminal solicitation to commit murder, and only got 20 years. I just don't get how this happened, he organized and paid for everything. He deserves just the same as the trigger man to me.
Ross has showed zero remorse and even tried to get Jonathan killed all because of his greed.
Thank You For Your Resources
TrueCrimeDaily
The Moore Family
Members of The Cobb County Community
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