The boyfriend of slain Georgia mother Debbie Collier's daughter allegedly threatened violence against her family in a note last year.
"If you or your family ever come near me again I will hurt them," Andrew Giegerich purportedly wrote to girlfriend Amanda Bearden in a note obtained by the New York Post.
The note instructs, "Don’t ever contact me again!!!"
The Post said the note was included in police evidence photos after a May 2021 domestic dispute between the couple, who were reportedly living in a home owned by Debbie's husband Steven Collier.
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| Andrew Tyler Giegerich are seen outside of his residence in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, September 23, 2022. His girlfriend, Amanda Bearden's mother, Debbie Collier, was the victim of a brutal murder, her body found on September 11, 2022. (Mark Sims for Newsreedom) |
Citing police documents, the paper said Bearden, 36, had shown the authorities a handwritten note that she claimed was from Giegerich, as well as bruises on her shoulders and arms that she said came from him after he had broken into her home.
"Andrew Giegerich did intentionally cause visible bodily harm to Amanda Bearden, to wit: she had visible bruising to the right arm and shoulder," a May 2021 arrest warrant apparently stated, and he was hit with various charges after the incident.
Bearden, who Newsreedom has learned is well-known to her hometown police department, has a rap sheet going back more than a decade for numerous domestic violence calls, involving different men with whom she has been romantically involved.
Police charged her with falsely reporting a crime after the 2021fight, but prosecutors ultimately dropped the case.
Giegerich pleaded guilty to charges that included battery and property damage.
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| Amanda Bearden in a mugshot from an unrelated case. (Clarke County Sheriff's Office) |
The responding officer initially wrote down a burglary charge, but after allegedly catching Bearden in a lie, said there was no longer evidence to support it.
Giegerich’s criminal record in Clarke County appears to begin in 2020, with domestic battery and disorderly conduct charges involving Bearden. He pleaded guilty to three counts and received a sentence of probation.
The following year, he faced new domestic charges involving Bearden, pleading guilty again and serving 10 days in jail and more time on probation. He violated an order of protection at least once but prosecutors dropped the charges. He violated probation again in August, court records show, and was sent to jail for six days last week. He was out by Friday when Newsreedom photographed him with Bearden in her driveway.
In January, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a DUI arrest.
On Sept. 4, 2021, police arrived at Bearden's home and encountered Giegerich outside. Bodycam video obtained by Newsreedom shows a long exchange in which he discussed her alleged drug use and claimed she was stealing money from his paychecks on a weekly basis because he let her link his account to her phone before they split up.
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| Amanda Bearden and her boyfriend, Andrew Tyler Giegerich are seen outside of their residence in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, September 23, 2022. (Mark Sims for Newsreedom ) |
"She’s probably on drugs now," he told police outside the home, minutes before they handcuffed him.
He was arrested for violating an order of protection.
Once in cuffs, he could be heard telling the arresting officers that it wasn't fair. At moments, he broke into tears, begging to be allowed to go home and asking for a chance to speak with Bearden. When officers finally relented and told him they'd ask her if that was OK, they came back a moment later and told him she didn't want to speak.
Throughout the encounter, police repeatedly told him he couldn't be on Bearden's property in violation of the order and that he needed to seek relief in civil court if she had been stealing his money.
The couple appears to have since reconciled and arrived at the house together Friday.
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| Debbie Collier's daughter and husband reported her missing after she sent a cryptic message along with $2,385 over Venmo. (Debbie Collier/Facebook) |
The Post said Giegerich told them he and Bearden had their phones confiscated by police after Collier's death.
"They’ve interrogated all of us. The people who are closest to [Debbie] are kind of looked at as suspects right now," he said.
It was not immediately clear whether Bearden had an attorney and Giegerich’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation into Collier’s murder, had not yet publicly identified any suspects or persons of interest in the case.
Police found the 59-year-old real estate office manager stripped naked, burned and dumped at the bottom of a hill in the woods just a day after her family reported her missing earlier this month.
Bearden and Steven filed a missing person report on Sept. 10 after the daughter said she received a Venmo payment of $2,385 and a cryptic message reading: "They are not going to let me go love you there is a key to the house in the blue flowerpot by the door."
The next day, investigators found her dead a quarter-mile off a rural highway where her rented Chrysler Pacifica had been abandoned.