Naman Shrestha
The tragic murder case of Tiffany Pugh is profiled in ‘The Real Murders of Atlanta: Deadly Turn’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: Sound and Fury.’ When the news of the murder of the wife of a popular DJ in Atlanta surfaced, it shook the entire community to its core. Meanwhile, the victim’s loved ones went into a state of grief and wanted to see her perpetrator/s brought to justice. Both episodes not only include the details of the investigation but also exclusive interviews with the experts involved in the case.
Tiffany Pugh Was Found Dead in Her Bed at Her Home
Tommy and Patricia Jackson welcomed their beloved daughter, Tiffany Nicole Jackson Pugh, on September 9, 1984, in Rochester, New York. She grew up alongside her loving brother, Brandon. The close-knit family also comprises Tiffany and Brandon’s half-siblings — Tommy Boykin, Samatra Whitehead, and Tymesha Jackson. A Clark Atlanta University graduate with a BBA degree in logistics, materials, and supply chain management, Tiffany secured employment at Delta Airlines in 2006. Over the years, she went from strength to strength and held multiple positions in the supply chain operations department. At the time of her death, the 30-year-old served as a Supply Chain Management Commodity Manager.
Tiffany worked really hard and had aspirations for the future. On the personal front, she met the love of her life, Andre Pugh, back when she was at the university. One thing led to another, and the two tied the knot on February 14, 2009. They soon relocated to East Point in Fulton County, just southwest of Atlanta, where they made a beautiful Lake Haven Way house their home. Eventually, the two became parents to two kids — Jasmine and Andre Jr., AKA AJ. Andre served as a DJ at Club Onyx and went by the name DJ Awesome.
Tiffany was a kindhearted individual whose world revolved around her kids. On November 23, 2014, around 6 am in the morning, East Point police received a call from Andre, who reported the death of his wife, Tiffany. When they rushed to the Pugh-Jackson residence, the authorities were shocked to find the 30-year-old shot to death. They were horrified at the sight of the mother of two lying on their blood-soaked bed, with her 3-year-old son sitting atop her, desperately trying to wake her up.
She suffered gunshot wounds to her eye and chest, while one bullet had missed her and hit the wall. It was determined that Tiffany was shot from a close range while she was asleep. On further inspection of the house, they discovered that the perpetrator/s used a window screen to break into their home. Furthermore, they remarked that no valuables were stolen from their residence. The police began treating it as a case of a botched home invasion and began their investigation, looking for more evidence into the death of Tiffany Nicole Jackson Pugh.
A Loved One of Tiffany Pugh Orchestrated the Murder While His Friend Pulled the Trigger
As the authorities took a look at the surveillance footage in the cameras of the Pugh residence, they could not make out the identity of the perpetrator as he avoided walking in front of any of the cameras. After inspecting the Pugh residence, the police began interrogating the neighbors and checked the security camera footage of a nearby house in the hopes of getting a glimpse of the perpetrator. It captured a black car, which had a light out on the side of the driver, circling the block around 4:45 am before getting parked in front of Tiffany’s house for a short period of time. Since the timing matched with the time of the murder, the investigators believed that it was the killer’s vehicle.
In order to learn more about the events of the fateful night, the detectives questioned Tiffany’s husband, Andre, who claimed that he received a call around 5:45 am that an alarm had gone off at his residence. He had a solid alibi for the night of the murder, as his club manager at Club Onyx confirmed that he was working there. However, the manager also mentioned the murder of DJ Nando, who worked at the club and was killed a few months back. When the police linked the two killings, they noticed that both Tiffany and DJ Nando were shot in the head and were linked to Club Onyx as well as Andre Pugh.
Upon interviewing Tiffany’s family and friends, the investigators learned that Tiffany and Andre’s marriage wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows as the couple had several marital issues, and the former was about to start the divorce proceedings. It was a surprise for the authorities as Andre did not address the cracks in their marriage at all, raising suspicion in the minds of the police. So, they brought him in for questioning yet again, and this time, he admitted that they had several issues, but the detectives still had some doubts regarding a few inconsistencies in his story.
After securing a warrant for his cell phone and examining its contents, they discovered that he was involved with several women with whom he sexted and shared photographs. While he used to bring other women to the house, he begged Tiffany to stay married to him. Next, the detectives found out that the financial issues of Andre could also be one of the major motives for murdering his wife, as she was the breadwinner in the family. In spite of him having a concrete alibi, the police did not rule out the possibility of him hiring someone else to do the dirty work for him.
To find evidence against him, the investigators also looked at his call records and found that he had been in touch with his best friend, Adrian Harley, just a few moments before his wife’s murder. When they inspected Adrian’s cell phone records, it showed that he was near the Pugh residence at the time of Tiffany’s murder. Their suspicion became stronger when they found out that his car matched the description of the car they saw in the surveillance footage. On December 5, 2014, the police arrested Andre Pugh and Adrian Harley at Club Onyx and charged them with the murder of Tiffany Pugh.
During the interrogation, Andre blamed the crime on his best friend and claimed that Tiffany owed Adrian some money, which was the motive behind the murder. On the other hand, when they began questioning Adrian, he asked for a lawyer immediately. Both of them pleaded not guilty and were bailed by the judge. Finally, in September 2018, Andre’s trial for Tiffany’s murder began, resulting in him getting sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. More than four years later, on October 18, 2022, Adrian Harley was convicted and received a life imprisonment sentence without the option of parole.
Read More: Andre Pugh: Where is the Killer Husband Now?
