Magnet Fishing Unearths Evidence in 9-Year-Old Murder Case
During a recent magnet fishing expedition in a Georgia creek, a surprising discovery was made - a rifle and personal belongings belonging to a couple who were found slain in the same area over nine years ago.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that items such as driver's licenses, credit cards, and other personal effects retrieved from Horse Creek in rural Telfair County are now considered "new evidence" in an ongoing murder case that has yet to go to trial.
According to a news release by the GBI on Monday, a citizen engaged in magnet fishing on April 14 came across a .22-caliber rifle. Two days later, the same individual returned to the site and made another discovery - a bag containing a cellphone, driver's licenses, and credit cards.
The agency has linked the licenses and credit cards to Bud and June Runion, a couple who were victims of a robbery and fatal shooting. Their bodies were found in separate locations off a county road back in January 2015. At the time, investigators revealed that the bodies of the Runions and their car were located in three different spots.
Source: WMAZ-TV
Authorities say the couple, from Marietta north of Atlanta, made the three-hour drive to Telfair County to meet someone offering to sell Bud Runion a 1966 Mustang.
A few days later, investigators arrested Ronnie Adrian "Jay" Towns on charges of armed robbery and murder. They said Towns lured the couple to Telfair County by replying to an online ad that the 69-year-old Bud Runion had posted seeking a classic car, though Towns didn't own such a vehicle.
Georgia courts threw out Towns' first indictment over problems with how the grand jury was selected - a prolonged legal battle that concluded in 2019. The delay started because fewer than 16 people reported to jury duty out of the 50 summoned when prosecutors originally took it to a grand jury, WMAZ-TV reported.
Towns was indicted for a second time in the killings in 2020, and the case was delayed again by the COVID-19 pandemic. He has pleaded not guilty.
Court proceedings have also likely been slowed by prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty, which requires extra pretrial legal steps.
Towns' defense attorney, Franklin Hogue, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Prosecutors are gearing up for Towns' trial to commence as early as August, although an exact date has not been determined, stated District Attorney Tim Vaughn of the Oconee Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Telfair County. Vaughn mentioned that the recently discovered evidence is expected to be valuable.
"It was already a strong case," Vaughn remarked on Tuesday, "but this discovery elevates it even further."
He noted that the rifle retrieved from the creek matches the caliber of the gun that was used to kill the Runions, although authorities are still working to confirm if it was the actual weapon used in the crime.
The discoveries in the creek prompted investigators to secure warrants to search a residence in Telfair County, where they uncovered additional evidence. The specifics of what was found were not disclosed in the GBI's statement, and Vaughn refrained from providing further details.
Instances of people using magnets to fish out unexpected items are not unheard of. Just recently, magnet fishermen extracted an unexploded ordnance from the Charles River in Massachusetts, shortly after another similar discovery occurred.
During 2022, a man and his 11-year-old grandson made an unusual discovery while magnet fishing in a murky South Florida canal. They reeled in two 50-caliber Barrett sniper rifles, as reported by CBS Miami. Similarly, in New Jersey, another magnet fisherman found a 30-pound explosive device in the Passaic River, according to CBS New York.
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