Homicide investigation in Ranger, N.C.

When arrested for running a drunken driving checkpoint, a Georgia man told local authorities he strangled his girlfriend to death in her Cherokee County home, according to an investigator.

At approximately 11:03 p.m., Friday, August 10, deputies were contacted in reference to a possible homicide in the Ranger, N.C. area. Responding officers discovered the body of Joanne Anderson, 45 of Murphy, in her residence, the apparent victim of a homicide.

Lt. Joe Wood said deputies in North Carolina learned about the murder on Friday night while in route to check on Joanne Anderson at her home. The call first came in as a routine welfare check but escalated to a homicide investigation.

According to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, Phillip Chad Britt, 36, of Decatur, Ga., is in custody in Fannin County, Ga., awaiting extradition hearings on whether he will return to North Carolina. Britt has been charged with First Degree Murder, Felony Larceny and Larceny of a Motor Vehicle.

Brit was driving his girlfriend's car when stopped at the Georgia checkpoint. While a deputy tried to give him a bloodalcohol test, Britt repeatedly asked to talk to an investigator. "Finally he says, 'you don't understand I just killed my girlfriend," Wood said. Authorities called the N.C. Highway Patrol, which relayed the information to Cherokee County deputies. Investigators from the Cherokee County Investigations Division with the help of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation processed the crime scene.

The couple had been together for about three years according to Wood. A motive in the killing isn't completely clear but Wood reported that the attack stemmed from an argument.

The Georgia State Patrol and the Fannin County Sheriff's Office provided instrumental support to Investigators throughout the investigation. The investigation continues to be ongoing. Investigators believe the murder was a domestic related homicide.