Cobb County Police connected a Stone Mountain man already jailed for burglarizing a Smyrna home to the break-in at late NASCAR legend Greg Biffle's North Carolina estate, Iredell County authorities announced Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said Terrell Williams, 44, monitored news coverage and social media to find homes left vacant after tragedies, then targeted them for burglary. Investigators believe he used that method at both the Smyrna property and Biffle's nearly 13,000-square-foot Mooresville, North Carolina, home.
The connection came from Cobb County Police. After Williams was arrested July 23 on a felony first-degree burglary charge tied to the Smyrna break-in, Cobb investigators contacted the Iredell County Sheriff's Office on July 29, according to 11Alive. That tip linked Williams to the Biffle burglary.
The Smyrna case
The Smyrna burglary occurred at a home on Laurel Creek Trail, near South Cobb Drive and Cooper Lake Drive. One week earlier, on July 7, Cobb County Police responded to a deadly domestic violence shooting at the same address. Officers found 57-year-old Sheetal Wrzesien dead inside and a 23-year-old man outside with a gunshot wound. Kirk Wrzesien, 56, was charged with felony murder.
Investigators believe Williams saw the news coverage and identified the home as likely vacant.
Biffle home burglary
Biffle, 55, his wife Cristina, their two children and three others died Dec. 18, 2025, when a small plane crashed at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina. Three weeks later, on Jan. 8, someone broke into the family's Mooresville estate.
About $30,000 in cash, multiple firearms, NASCAR memorabilia and gold and silver coins were stolen, according to the Iredell County Sheriff's Office. Williams allegedly used stolen cash the following day to buy a vehicle from a nearby North Carolina dealership.
Cell phone data and GPS records placed Williams at the Biffle residence around the time of the burglary. "I feel confident that he was there," Campbell said at Tuesday's press conference.
Investigators also found a radio-frequency detector in Williams' possession, which they believe he used to locate wireless security cameras at targeted homes. A Flock license-plate reader and other digital evidence helped identify him, according to QC News.
Recovery and charges
Most of the property stolen from the Biffle home has been recovered, including a firearm reported stolen from a retired law enforcement officer in western North Carolina approximately three years ago. Biffle's surviving family expressed relief at the recoveries, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Williams faces North Carolina felony charges including second-degree burglary, safecracking, money laundering, larceny of a firearm and possession of burglary tools. Authorities have requested his extradition to North Carolina after his Georgia proceedings conclude.
He is being held without bond in Cobb County. Deputies said he is also being linked to other residential break-ins in the region.
Campbell said the investigation stretches from South Carolina to California and includes a separate white-collar fraud inquiry with a person of interest already identified.
Law enforcement officials urged residents to keep social media profiles private and avoid posting information that could signal an unoccupied home.
