Man charged with murder in Runion slayings says i didn't do it,'

CRAE-HELENA -- A Telfair County man was charged with murder Tuesday in the slayings of a Marietta couple last week.

Telfair County Magistrate Judge Bryan Selph denied bond for 28-year-old Ronnie “Jay” Towns during a hearing late Tuesday afternoon. Afterward, Towns was taken to the Dodge County jail in Eastman.

“I didn’t do it,” Towns said softly as deputies led him into the courtroom for his hearing.

Towns is charged with killing Bud Runion, 69, and his wife, June, 66, Thursday after he allegedly lured the couple to Telfair County through a response to a Craigslist ad. Bud Runion had been looking to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible, but Towns’ answer to the ad was a ruse, authorities said.

Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson said the Runions each were shot in the head with a small-caliber handgun. The bodies were found in the woods near Old Prison Camp Road, not far outside town. The couple’s 2003 GMC Envoy was found Monday afternoon in a lake.

Towns has been charged with malice murder, armed robbery, making a false statement and criminal attempt to commit theft by deception.

Steverson said although Towns had never been arrested previously for a crime in Telfair County, he had been questioned on several occasions during investigations into other theft-related crimes.

“In the past, in the course of previous investigations, his name came up,” Steverson said. “(Investigators) stopped to question him. But obviously, he doesn’t have any arrest in his record” before this week.

Towns was initially being sought for making a false statement to authorities and an attempt to commit theft by deception.

Steverson declined to talk in detail about what led investigators to Towns.

Billy McKinnon, owner of McKinnon Inc. Landscape in Helena, said Tuesday that Towns had previously worked for his company, but he was fired several weeks ago for “a violation of company policies.” McKinnon declined to comment further.

Towns’ family reacted with shock and anger at Tuesday’s developments. Family members were upset that they found out about Towns’ hearing just a few minutes before it happened. They arrived near the conclusion as Selph was ending the hearing.

For now, Steverson said, investigators aren’t looking at charging anyone else.

Several of Towns’ family said they believe he isn’t guilty of the charges.

“This is a bunch of crap,” said Towns’ father, also named Ronnie. “There is something else going on. ... I don’t know if he did it or not. I think someone else is involved. He’s a good kid.”

The elder Towns extended his condolences to the Runion family.

Gwen Towns, the mother of the accused, said, “My son did not do this” as she left the courtroom. Later, while members of the family were talking to Steverson outside his office, she added that “evidence could have been planted” in her son’s trailer.

The family asked Steverson if they could see the evidence, but he told them the case was now with the district attorney’s office.

Ashley McLaughlin, a public defender from Dublin, said he couldn’t comment on the case.

Anne Horton, Jay Towns’ aunt, said the news that her nephew had been charged made her ill.

“It floored me,” she told reporters. “There’s no way, no way! ... He was always loving, always had a smile on his face. I can’t wrap my brain around this.”

Horton also expressed her sympathy for the victims’ family.

“I have so much sorrow for the family, for the Runions,” she said. “I hope they get to the bottom of this.”

Earlier, Steverson told national viewers of Fox News that Towns “comes from a good family.” The family, he said, is “well established” in the small community.

“As you can imagine, the family is as shocked as the rest of the community that he’s been named as a suspect in this case,” Steverson said.

The sheriff said the community is a peaceful one despite difficult economic times. According to a 2014 report by the federal government, Telfair County is among the poorest counties in the country, with an average income of $17,536 -- about $6,000 below the federal poverty line.

“Although we’re rural and we don’t have the resources that big city police departments do, when we see violent crimes, we pull out all the stops,” he said. “We’ve made progress in this investigation from the beginning.”

Later in the day, Steverson said investigators and prosecutors have a “mountain of evidence” to go through in the case.

A story on Bud Runion in The Atlanta Constitution in 1999 noted his work in repairing old bicycles for his church and delivering them to underprivileged children in the Woodstock community.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2015/01/27/3553276/telfair-sheriff-killing-suspect.html#storylink=cpy