A person who used a magnet to fish for metal objects in a Georgia stream pulled up a rifle, as well as items left behind by a couple murdered in the same area more than nine years ago.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said driver’s licenses, credit cards and other items dragged from Horse Creek in rural Telfair County are “new evidence” in a murder case currently awaiting trial. .
The GBI announced in a news release Monday that a citizen magnet fishing in a creek on April 14 discovered a .22 caliber rifle. The anonymous person returned to the same location two days later and discovered a new bag containing a cell phone, driver’s license and credit cards.
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The driver’s license and credit cards belonged to Bud Runyon and June Runyon, the agency said. The couple was robbed and shot to death, and their bodies were found on the side of a prefectural road in January 2015.
Authorities said the couple, from Marietta, north of Atlanta, drove three hours to Telfair County to meet with someone who offered to sell Bud Runyon a 1966 Mustang.
A few days later, investigators arrested Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns on charges of armed robbery and murder. Towns lured the couple to Telfair County by responding to an online ad posted by Bud Runyon, 69, looking for a classic car, which Towns did not own. That’s what it means.
Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns appears in court on January 27, 2015 in McRae, Georgia. According to a news release issued on April 23, 2024, someone used a magnet to fish for metal objects in a Georgia stream on April 14, 2024, and the rifle and missing possession of Bud and June Runyon. Some of the items were removed. (Kent D. Johnson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
The long legal battle ended in 2019 when a Georgia court dismissed Towns’ initial indictment, citing issues with how the grand jury was selected. Towns was charged with murder for the second time in 2020, and her case was postponed again due to the coronavirus. 19 pandemic. He pleaded not guilty.
Court proceedings are also likely to be delayed due to the prosecutor’s decision to seek the death penalty, which requires additional legal procedures before trial.
Towns’ attorney, Franklin Hogue, did not immediately return calls and emails seeking comment Tuesday.
Tim Vaughan, district attorney for the Oconee Judicial Circuit, which includes Telfair County, said prosecutors are preparing for Towns’ trial to begin as early as August, but no date has been set. He said the newly discovered evidence should be helpful.
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“It was already a good case, but this makes it even better,” Vaughn said Tuesday.
He said the rifle found in the creek was 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.
