Found Deceased GA - Bud, 69, & June Runion, 66, McRae, 22 Jan 2015 #2 *Arrest*

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Classito said:
And we know the LE and DA would never get it wrong...Right..?

http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/wrongful-convictions

Classito
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I'm not saying that law enforcement never gets it wrong. Believe me, I'm no law enforcement groupie, and I'm probably more critical of their method and tactics than most of the people in here. But in this case, everything divulged so far seems to point directly at Ronnie Towns, and nobody else.

There is the FACT that Towns bought a prepaid phone and was communicating back and forth with Runion.
This communication would have also shown up on Runions phone and possibly his home computer as well.

Someone upthread said he had an alibi. Sure he did, but after they checked into his alibi, they saw all kinds of inconsistencies and proof of deception. That's what highlighted him as a suspect right from the git-go.

After being interviewed, Towns runs off into the woods and hides. If he was innocent of this crime, knew nothing of it, and was being framed, why would he feel the need to leave his wife and child and go hide in the woods ?

Evidence was found at both the murder scene as well as his parents property tying him to the Runions. Has law enforcement issued a list publicly noting everything that was gathered ? Of course not. But, the evidence gathered in numerous locations points directly at Towns.

Last but not least, why would someone go through all of these elaborate steps to frame a quiet country boy from a little town in Georgia ? As the cops continue to gather evidence, and the pile grows thicker and higher, the only thing that anybody who knew him can proclaim is, "He was framed, He was framed, He was framed".

Fine. By Who ? Someone who is such a criminal mastermind that even sloppy mistakes lead directly back to and implicate Towns ? Someone who can travel around and plant evidence without being seen or noticed by anybody ?
Someone who is so adept at staging crime scenes that not a single piece of evidence points towards someone else being involved ?

He wasn't known to hang out with a bunch of unsavory characters, so who would these unsavory characters be that decided to frame him ?

I'm sure the conspiracy theorist out there will have a field day with all of these open-ended questions. I could twist and turn them around myself and come up with all kinds of different scenarios of how it "might" have gone down. But in reality, this wasn't a complicated crime.......it was just a really stupid one, and it was attempted by someone that wasn't very good at it.
 
I believe every accused has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he/she has had all the guarantees necessary for his/her defense...Having said that..and knowing anything is possible...I am open to hearing both sides before passing judgement...

Classito

“A picture can tell a thousand words, but a few words can change it’s story.”
 
I'm sorry, but someone saying that somebody they know is incapable of committing a crime holds no weight with me. How often has a friend/loved one said that of a perp? I've personally lost count.
 
Ronso said:
I'm sorry, but someone saying that somebody they know is incapable of committing a crime holds no weight with me. How often has a friend/loved one said that of a perp? I've personally lost count.
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All the same, I'd like to hear what PIintraining might have to say.

And now, since actual recent news on this case is S-L-O-W ...

[h=3]Spate of crimes linked to Craigslist prompts extra caution[/h]...Lately, one crime has followed on the heels of another. In January, Bud and June Runion of Marietta were killed after driving to a remote spot in Telfair County in search of a classic Mustang. Two weeks later, a Clark Atlanta University student, James Earl Jones Jr., was robbed and killed while attempting to buy an iPhone 6 from someone who advertised it on the site. ...
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more at: http://www.wtvm.com/story/28219291/spate-of-crimes-linked-to-craigslist-prompts-extra-caution
 
I know everyone has a right to their day in court, but all roads lead back to Ronnie Towns. What is so disturbing to me is the why. Manipulating a couple to that extent then to murder them seems so extreme. He didn't even plan to get a large sum of money from them. The entire saga is just so hard to comprehend.
 
Craigslist crime is a national occurrence. Peter Zollman, whose classified ad consulting firm tracks the phenomenon, said he found news reports for over 20 killings related to the site in 2014.

Craigslist officials did not respond to interview requests. In the past they have said the number of crimes linked to the online marketplace is negligible, compared the hundreds of millions of transactions that go off without a hitch.
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http://www.wtvm.com/story/28219291/spate-of-crimes-linked-to-craigslist-prompts-extra-caution

A couple of weeks ago, I advertised a 40" flat screen TV on Craigslist for $250 cash. Some guy called up and asked for directions to get to my house. A guy wearing sorta dirty clothes and a heavy jacket shows up with his young lady friend. I took them in and let them view the TV and play around with the remote control for awhile. They had idle chit chat back and forth for awhile, and then I notice this guy backing way off into the kitchen area to get a better look, while sticking his hand into his coat pocket. Everything SEEMED okay up to that point.

The guy then proceeds to pull a roll of money out of his pocket and says "Okay, we'll take it". He proceeded to count out $250 in front of me, and then asked if I minded helping carrying it out to his car. I agreed to do just that, and we walked it out and got it positioned for the ride home. Off they went with their new TV, and I went back inside the house to get out of the cold.


I had a very similar story happen last year when I went to some guys house to buy some vinyl siding for one of my big storage sheds. Only this time I was carrying the money instead of the other guy. We bickered on a price for a little while and I ended up getting a thousand bucks worth of siding for about $300. The guy even helped me get all of it loaded into my truck. Cool !!

I've got a few other Craigslist horror stories just like these if anybody wants to hear them..................
 
steelman said:
http://www.wtvm.com/story/28219291/spate-of-crimes-linked-to-craigslist-prompts-extra-caution

A couple of weeks ago, I advertised a 40" flat screen TV on Craigslist for $250 cash. Some guy called up and asked for directions to get to my house. A guy wearing sorta dirty clothes and a heavy jacket shows up with his young lady friend. I took them in and let them view the TV and play around with the remote control for awhile. They had idle chit chat back and forth for awhile, and then I notice this guy backing way off into the kitchen area to get a better look, while sticking his hand into his coat pocket. Everything SEEMED okay up to that point.

The guy then proceeds to pull a roll of money out of his pocket and says "Okay, we'll take it". He proceeded to count out $250 in front of me, and then asked if I minded helping carrying it out to his car. I agreed to do just that, and we walked it out and got it positioned for the ride home. Off they went with their new TV, and I went back inside the house to get out of the cold.


I had a very similar story happen last year when I went to some guys house to buy some vinyl siding for one of my big storage sheds. Only this time I was carrying the money instead of the other guy. We bickered on a price for a little while and I ended up getting a thousand bucks worth of siding for about $300. The guy even helped me get all of it loaded into my truck. Cool !!

I've got a few other Craigslist horror stories just like these if anybody wants to hear them..................
Click to expand...

Probably 99% of all Craigslist transactions are safe, it's the 1% that make the news that gives Craigslist such a bad reputation.
 
NWLady said:
The Thanks Button just wasn't enough. Thank you, Backwoods, for the update.
Click to expand...

You're very welcome.

The link I posted earlier now leads to the updated story, with more information:

Indicted in midstate Craigslist slayings, man ‘hasn’t confessed to anything’

...Towns’ attorney, Franklin J. Hogue of Macon, had not seen a copy of the indictment as of Monday evening.

“Right now, all I can say is he hasn’t confessed to anything,” Hogue said.

Hogue said he has spoken with Towns several times at the Dodge County jail in Eastman, where Towns is being held.

Towns, married with a 2-year-old daughter, has no prior criminal record, Hogue said.

“I’m beginning to get to know him and his family and they seem to me to be very nice people,” Hogue said. “He’s very courteous and polite. He’s a calm, easygoing kind of guy. ... Even the jailers seem to like him.”...
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more at: http://www.macon.com/2015/03/16/3642571/accused-killer-indicted-in-craigslist.html


Anyone who followed the case of the murder of Lauren Giddings will probably remember Mr. Hogue as one of Stephen McDaniel's defense attorneys. IMO, a very capable attorney.
 
steelman said:
I'm not saying that law enforcement never gets it wrong. Believe me, I'm no law enforcement groupie, and I'm probably more critical of their method and tactics than most of the people in here. But in this case, everything divulged so far seems to point directly at Ronnie Towns, and nobody else.

There is the FACT that Towns bought a prepaid phone and was communicating back and forth with Runion.
This communication would have also shown up on Runions phone and possibly his home computer as well.

Someone upthread said he had an alibi. Sure he did, but after they checked into his alibi, they saw all kinds of inconsistencies and proof of deception. That's what highlighted him as a suspect right from the git-go.

After being interviewed, Towns runs off into the woods and hides. If he was innocent of this crime, knew nothing of it, and was being framed, why would he feel the need to leave his wife and child and go hide in the woods ?

Evidence was found at both the murder scene as well as his parents property tying him to the Runions. Has law enforcement issued a list publicly noting everything that was gathered ? Of course not. But, the evidence gathered in numerous locations points directly at Towns.

Last but not least, why would someone go through all of these elaborate steps to frame a quiet country boy from a little town in Georgia ? As the cops continue to gather evidence, and the pile grows thicker and higher, the only thing that anybody who knew him can proclaim is, "He was framed, He was framed, He was framed".

Fine. By Who ? Someone who is such a criminal mastermind that even sloppy mistakes lead directly back to and implicate Towns ? Someone who can travel around and plant evidence without being seen or noticed by anybody ?
Someone who is so adept at staging crime scenes that not a single piece of evidence points towards someone else being involved ?

He wasn't known to hang out with a bunch of unsavory characters, so who would these unsavory characters be that decided to frame him ?

I'm sure the conspiracy theorist out there will have a field day with all of these open-ended questions. I could twist and turn them around myself and come up with all kinds of different scenarios of how it "might" have gone down. But in reality, this wasn't a complicated crime.......it was just a really stupid one.
Click to expand...

They found guns at his home? What did they find at the crime scene? Was his alibi solid? And what I really want to know is...............DID LE find THE phone on RT that was used to communicate with the RUnions...............??

Certainly LE has something and I suppose that's what the trial is for.............. framed? seems unlikely............ but it is indeed very baffling as to why he suddenly committed such a crime if he's not shown any past possibility of such crimes...................

People do snap............there's a first time for a lot of things.............Maybe the intent was to rob only, then whatever happened during that crime "caused"(for lack of better term) and resulted in this final stage of the crime

It's hard for a non criminal mind to understand it completely

I can't imagine how stunned I'd be at all this if I were a close friend or family member
 
steelman said:
http://www.wtvm.com/story/28219291/spate-of-crimes-linked-to-craigslist-prompts-extra-caution

A couple of weeks ago, I advertised a 40" flat screen TV on Craigslist for $250 cash. Some guy called up and asked for directions to get to my house. A guy wearing sorta dirty clothes and a heavy jacket shows up with his young lady friend. I took them in and let them view the TV and play around with the remote control for awhile. They had idle chit chat back and forth for awhile, and then I notice this guy backing way off into the kitchen area to get a better look, while sticking his hand into his coat pocket. Everything SEEMED okay up to that point.

The guy then proceeds to pull a roll of money out of his pocket and says "Okay, we'll take it". He proceeded to count out $250 in front of me, and then asked if I minded helping carrying it out to his car. I agreed to do just that, and we walked it out and got it positioned for the ride home. Off they went with their new TV, and I went back inside the house to get out of the cold.


I had a very similar story happen last year when I went to some guys house to buy some vinyl siding for one of my big storage sheds. Only this time I was carrying the money instead of the other guy. We bickered on a price for a little while and I ended up getting a thousand bucks worth of siding for about $300. The guy even helped me get all of it loaded into my truck. Cool !!

I've got a few other Craigslist horror stories just like these if anybody wants to hear them..................
Click to expand...

Whackos are found in all walks of life, from daycare centers to nursing homes to neighbors and everything in between and beyond................we just don't know who they are all the time
 
Is it possible, that someone else planned this crime and certainly didn't want to be caught? Is it possible someone else bought a phone in RT name? Is it possible that the couple met with someone else besides RT and they are the one;s who shot the Runions?

Does he have a solid alibi?
Why did he run?
Is it possible, RT realized he was the scapegoat and ran out of fear? Not necessarily that he was framed but that someone else was just covering their own tracks?
Did LE find RT fingerprints on the car?
Did LE find any personal belongings of RT at the crime scene or in the Runions Car?
Did LE find any large sum of money on RT?
Did LE find the murder weapon?
DID LE find tire or shoe tracks at either crime scene, where car was found in pond or on the road where Runions were sadly murdered?
Did anyone else besides BUD talk with the person on the tracked drop phone?
The Runions did not mention to store owner WHO they were meeting, just the direction they were headed or road they were looking for.
If nothing else besides the phone is the evidence that got him indicted, Hogue has some work to do to find out who bought that phone, if even possible IDK
Otherwise, would the fact that this is all LE has (if that were so) pointing to RT committing this crime, would that create doubt in the jurors if witnessess for the defense gave testimony to his personaility of being a nice guy or whatever?

Just some thoughts! Surely want the criminal captured but everyone deserves to be considered innocent until proven guilty
The SM trial dragged on and he didnt' admit guilt either IIRC, and it wasn't until the attorneys were backed into a corner with the camera and stick findings that SM used the night before the murder occurred (I think that was the timing) that they ALL knew he was guilty and Hogue didnt' even try to get him out of it, there was no way to

SO quite possibly, if no evidence but the phone is found, I'm pondering whether or not the same thing might occur here until further solid evidence is found, or is discovered who exactly owned that phone, right now of course they have SOMETHING that points to RT because there is no one else to point to?

Will be glad to know some of the answers to the above questions
 
A man charged with shooting to death a Cobb County husband and wife who’d traveled to Telfair County to buy a vintage car was indicted Monday.

Ronnie “Jay” Towns, 28, was arrested Jan. 26 after the bodies of Bud and June Runion of Marietta were found along a dirt road near Towns’ home south of McRae-Helena. The Runions had been shot in the head.

Monday, a Telfair grand jury indicted, or formally accused, Towns on charges that include counts of malice murder, felony murder and armed robbery.

Elrey “Bud” Runion, 69, and his wife, June, 66, were last seen while on an evening trip Jan. 22 to meet someone near tiny Jacksonville, Ga., about buying a 1966 Ford Mustang. Bud Runion had posted a Craigslist ad seeking such a car.

<Mod Snip>



Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2015/03/16/364...ndicted-in-craigslist.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

BBM

http://www.macon.com/2015/03/16/3642571/accused-killer-indicted-in-craigslist.html?rh=1
 
Monkey41 said:
A man charged with shooting to death a Cobb County husband and wife who&#8217;d traveled to Telfair County to buy a vintage car was indicted Monday.

Ronnie &#8220;Jay&#8221; Towns, 28, was arrested Jan. 26 after the bodies of Bud and June Runion of Marietta were found along a dirt road near Towns&#8217; home south of McRae-Helena. The Runions had been shot in the head.

Monday, a Telfair grand jury indicted, or formally accused, Towns on charges that include counts of malice murder, felony murder and armed robbery.

Elrey &#8220;Bud&#8221; Runion, 69, and his wife, June, 66, were last seen while on an evening trip Jan. 22 to meet someone near tiny Jacksonville, Ga., about buying a 1966 Ford Mustang. Bud Runion had posted a Craigslist ad seeking such a car.

<Mod Snip>

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2015/03/16/364...ndicted-in-craigslist.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

BBM

http://www.macon.com/2015/03/16/3642571/accused-killer-indicted-in-craigslist.html?rh=1
Click to expand...


WOW, so how is he accused if those things weren't found on him or in his home!? WOW! Must have been
 
jking said:
I just saw this, another craigslist horror story :(

http://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news...went-to-hospital-claiming-miscarriage03182015
Click to expand...

SICK, just realized it was the pregnant girl, saw that earlier, didn't realize another craigslist tragedy, good grief, I don't hear about these things on robinsyardsales.com or RFCU or other advertisements, if so, not like craigslist, I was going to ask, what is it about craigslist, but I guess it's very impersonal as oppposed to local ads
 
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