Someone fishing with a magnet dredged up new evidence in Cobb County couple’s killing, GBI says

McRAE-HELENA, Ga. (AP) — Someone using a magnet to fish for metal objects in a Georgia creek pulled up a gun as well as some lost belongings of a Cobb County couple found slain in the same area more than nine years ago.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said driver’s licenses, credit cards and other items dragged from Horse Creek in rural Telfair County are “new evidence” in a murder case that’s still awaiting trial.

A citizen who was magnet fishing in the creek on April 14 discovered a .22-caliber rifle, the GBI said in a news release Monday. The unnamed person returned to the same spot two days later and made another find: a bag containing a cell phone, a pair of driver’s licenses and credit cards.

The agency says the licenses and credit cards belonged to Bud and June Runion. The couple was robbed and fatally shot before their bodies were discovered off a county road in January 2015.

Authorities say the couple from Marietta 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.

The items found in the creek led investigators to obtain warrants to search a Telfair County home where they recovered additional evidence, the GBI’s statement said. The agency gave no further details.

Towns is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in August, more than nine years after his arrest, according to the GBI. Frank Hogue, Towns’ defense attorney, said he has filed a motion to reschedule the trial after the new evidence surfaced.

“We’re requesting more time to conduct our own independent analysis of the stuff fished out of the creek this week, assuming that the State will conduct its own forensic analysis of it, produce reports, submit them to us,” Hogue said in a statement. “The reports may have conclusions that we then must contest.”

Georgia courts threw out Towns’ first indictment over problems with how the grand jury was selected — a prolonged legal battle that concluded in 2019. 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.

District Attorney Tim Vaughn told Atlanta News First on Tuesday that Towns’ trial will still likely start in August or in September.

The Runion family declined to speak on camera with Atlanta News First. But one of their daughters, Brittany Patterson, sent Atlanta News First a statement Tuesday after learning about the new evidence.

“I was in complete shock and disbelief. My heart was racing, and every hair on my body stood straight. It honestly seemed unreal. I was happy, sad, and angry all at the same time,” Patterson said. “My family and I are patiently waiting for the trial. We want everything to be done in accordance with the law even if that takes a long time. The thought of trial makes me feel nervous, but we just want closure and answers. I personally have come to peace with the loss of my parents and know that their story is still one in the making, nine years later, and that God will use their situation to his glory. We are hopeful that the new evidence will solidify who is at fault.”