Earlier this month a magnet fisherman turned up new proof associated to a double murder from 2015, through which an aged couple, Bud and Jane Runion of Marietta, Georgia, have been murdered. Over two days of dredging on April 14 and April 16, the magnet fisherman (whose id stays unavailable to the general public) pulled a .22-caliber rifle, drivers’ licenses, and bank cards from Horse Creek, a tributary of the Ocmulgee River within the city of McRae-Helena, in keeping with a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Because of the findings, investigators executed two search warrants at a house in McRae-Helena, the place they discovered extra proof to enter into the investigation each occasions. Presently, the first suspect within the case is a person named Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Cities, 28, who allegedly lured the victims to his house beneath the guise that he had a 1966 Mustang on the market, a automobile that Bud was occupied with buying. The couple drove over three hours from Marietta to McRae in January 2015 to see the automobile and meet Cities. Each victims died of gunshot wounds to the pinnacle from a .22-caliber gun. Investigators discovered their our bodies mendacity off a county street. Their SUV was parked at Cities’ residence.
Cities was charged with malice murder and armed robbery nearly instantly after the our bodies have been found on Jan. 26. However his case was thrown out in 2019 for issues with jury choice. He was charged once more in 2020 and pleaded not responsible. A trial is tentatively scheduled for August of this 12 months, though no date has been set and the method is transferring slowly. Prosecutors are in search of the loss of life penalty, the Associated Press studies.
Magnet fishermen typically pull all kinds of weapons and different eyebrow-raising objects out of the waters they search. In a single case from 2022, a trio of magnet fishermen entered a Georgia military base and pulled dozens of rockets, large-caliber ammunition, and different explosives out of a river. The regulation round keeping guns found while magnet fishing is murky. However skilled magnet fishermen like Bryce Nachtwey encourage their friends to show weapons and different weapons into native police.
“It’s the correct factor to do,” Nachtwey instructed Outside Life in 2022. “If it was utilized in a homicide and that was the one piece of proof they have been searching for, I’d quite assist carry closure to the household than have one thing hanging up on my wall.”
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On this case, the magnet fisherman’s option to contact native authorities led to much more proof discovery past the gun, playing cards, and cellular phone, making these objects essential keys to the chain of proof prosecutors will current when Cities’ case finally goes to trial.
“It was a very good case already,” county prosecutor Tim Vaughn instructed the AP on Tuesday. “However this makes it a good higher case.”
