A man who uses a magnet to fish has uncovered crucial new evidence in the ‘Craiglist murder’ case nine years after the murder of a beloved couple of charity workers.
Elrey ‘Bud’, 69, and June, 66, Runion had driven 200 miles to buy their dream car when they disappeared in January 2015. Their bodies were later discovered on the side of a rural road after being assaulted and shot to death.
Earlier this year, an anonymous individual was magnet fishing in a Georgia stream when he unknowingly discovered evidence related to the murder case.
The fisherman first pulled a .22 caliber rifle from a stream near the crime scene on April 14.
Two days later, he found a bag containing the couple’s driver’s licenses and credit cards, as well as what authorities believe are their cell phones.
Elrey ‘Bud’, 69, and June, 66, Runion had driven 200 miles to buy their dream car when they disappeared in January 2015. Their bodies were later discovered on the side of a rural road after being assaulted and shot to death.
Murder suspect Ronnie ‘Jay’ Towns will stand trial in August, although a date has not been determined, according to District Attorney Tim Vaughn.
A man who uses a magnet to fish has uncovered crucial new evidence in the ‘Craiglst Killing’ case nine years after the murder of a beloved couple of charity workers.
Murder suspect Ronnie ‘Jay’ Towns will stand trial in August, although a date has not been determined, according to District Attorney Tim Vaughn.
Vaughn said the newly discovered evidence, which was washed up from Horse Creek in rural Telfair County, should prove vital.
He said the rifle in the creek is the same caliber as the gun that killed the Runions, although investigators are still working to determine if it is the weapon used in the crime.
“It was already a good case,” Vaughn said Tuesday, “but this makes it an even better case.”
Towns was charged with the murders of the elderly couple who believed they would meet him to buy their dream car in 2015. He was 28 years old at the time.
Towns was arrested on January 26, 2015, and indicted on multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder, and armed robbery, in Telfair County, Georgia.
According to the indictment, Towns lured the couple to Telfair County by responding to an online ad Bud had posted seeking a classic car, even though Towns did not own such a vehicle.
Bud had been looking for someone willing to sell his 1966 Ford Mustang convertible, as he had purchased the same model after returning from the Vietnam War decades ago.
After receiving a response from a potential seller, the couple from Marietta, north of Atlanta, made the three-hour drive to Telfair County to inspect the car. They were last seen on January 22.
According to the indictment, Towns lured the couple (pictured) to Telfair County by responding to an online ad Bud had posted seeking a classic car, even though Towns did not own such a vehicle.
Children place flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the home of Elrey ‘Bud’ Runion, 69, and his 66-year-old wife, Tuesday, January 27, 2015 in Marietta, Georgia.
A message reading “Bud and June” is found power-washed in the driveway of the home of Elrey “Bud” Runion, 69, and his 66-year-old wife, June
He then allegedly met the couple and brandished a gun before stealing their phones, Mr. Runion’s wallet, his wife’s purse and the couple’s van, the Macon Telegraph reported at the time.
Their truck was found submerged in a pond near Towns’ home several days later, and the couple’s bodies were found along a nearby dirt road. They had been shot in the head.
Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson has previously said robbery appears to be the motive for the murders. He said investigators found no evidence that he had the type of car the couple was looking for.
Georgia courts dismissed Towns’ first indictment over issues with how the grand jury was selected, a protracted legal battle that concluded in 2019.
Towns was charged a second time with the murders in 2020, and the case was delayed again by the COVID-19 pandemic. He pleaded not guilty.
Court proceedings are also likely to have been slowed by prosecutors’ decision to seek the death penalty, which requires additional legal measures before trial.
Items found in the creek also led investigators to obtain warrants to search a Telfair County home where they recovered additional evidence.
The statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation did not elaborate.
The retired couple found dead were well known for their charitable efforts throughout the South.
Bud and his wife, June, ran a charity called Bud’s Bicycles that helped people in need from storm-damaged Alabama cities and impoverished areas of West Virginia to his hometown in the Atlanta suburbs.
“He said, ‘You can’t take money with you when you’re gone,'” said the couple’s daughter, Brittany Patterson. “You might as well spend it and enjoy it.”
Bud and his wife, June, ran a charity called Bud’s Bicycles that helped people in need from storm-damaged Alabama cities and impoverished areas of West Virginia to his hometown in the Atlanta suburbs.
Georgia courts dismissed Towns’ first indictment over problems with how the grand jury was selected. He was charged a second time with the murders in 2020, and the case was delayed again by the COVID-19 pandemic. He pleaded not guilty
He founded ‘Bud’s Bicycles’, a charity loosely run from the Mount Paran Church of God in Marietta. Runion met his wife, a teacher, at church in the 1970s.
Years earlier, while driving through Marietta before Christmas Eve, Runion saw two girls going through a dumpster, her daughter said. She repaired two of her own daughters’ bicycles and gave them as gifts.
It was the beginning of ‘Bud’s Bicycles’, a charity loosely run from the Mount Paran Church of God in Marietta. Runion met his wife, a teacher, at church in the 1970s.
Neighbors said the Runions built a shed in their backyard to store the bikes. Their donations eventually expanded to include food, school and household supplies, coats, blankets, and even Thanksgiving turkeys.
“He basically had a food pantry in the basement of his house,” Patterson said.
Charity came in ways big and small. Patterson remembered that when she was a child she would go to a donut shop with her father on Saturdays.
Often a man she didn’t know would join them and her father would pay the bill. Later in her life she realized that the man was homeless.
“If someone lives their life this way and this happens, it really tests their faith,” neighbor Tom Murphy said at the time.
