Witnessing a crime cost Ga. golf pro his life, police believe

KENNESAW, Ga. - Police say they believe a golf pro was shot to death in broad daylight on the course of his country club in the Atlanta suburbs because he witnessed a “crime in progress.”

Cobb County police said Tuesday that it does not appear that golf pro Eugene Siller was targeted Saturday afternoon, but was gunned down because of the crime he came upon.

The slaying happened on a deadly holiday weekend across the two-state region as well as the U.S. At least 150 people were shot to death across the country, two of them in the CSRA.

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Friends have been saying they couldn’t imagine why Siller would be killed.

“No one would set out with calculated evil, to set out and do something wrong to Gene,” said friend Rand Eberhard. “Gene was a bringer of light. The goodness of God. He was a peaceful dude. He built community. Didn’t have one enemy.”

Officers arriving at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw found a pickup truck stuck above a sand trap near the 10th hole.

The bodies of the truck’s owner and another man were in the bed.

One was identified as Paul Pierson and the other has not yet been identified.

The killer remains at large.