He is gathering new evidence.
A fisherman who used a magnet to find metal objects in a Georgia stream recovered a rifle and other items expected to be key in the trial of a man long suspected of killing an elderly couple nine years ago. .
An unidentified searcher first pulled a .22-caliber rifle from Horse Creek on April 14, and police say it was the gunman who killed Bud Runyon, 69, and his wife June, 66, in 2015. They realized it was the same type of weapon used in the killing.
Searchers returned the next day and found the Runions’ credit cards and driver’s licenses, as well as their cellphones, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
These items are now being submitted as “new evidence” against Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns. That was when he was scheduled to go to trial in August.
“It was already a good case, but this just made it even better,” said Oconee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tim Vaughn.
The Runyons were killed after driving three hours from their home in Atlanta to rural Telfair County, lured by a fake Craigslist ad for a 1966 Mustang.
Mr. Towns was arrested days later on charges of armed robbery and murder, but the initial indictment was swayed by questions about how the grand jury was selected.
He was charged a second time in 2020, but the case was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors seeking the death penalty in the case are preparing to begin Towns’ trial as early as August, although no date has been set, the DA’s office said.
Mr. Towns maintains his innocence.
Vaughn said the rifle found in the creek is the same caliber as the gun that killed Runions, but investigators are still trying to determine if it was the weapon used in the crime.
Items found in the creek also led investigators to obtain a warrant to search a home in Telfair County, where they discovered additional evidence.
The GBI statement provided no further details, and Vaughn declined to comment on what was discovered.
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