MCRAE-HELENA, Ga. — A Telfair County grand jury decided Friday to re-indict a Telfair County man accused of killing an elderly couple after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out the original indictment in October.
That’s according to Telfair County Superior Court clerk Belinda Thomas.
In 2018, a local judge canceled the murder charges against Jay Towns, saying the grand jury used to indict him wasn't chosen properly. And in October 2019, the state's highest court agreed.
That happened because fewer than 16 people reported to jury duty out of the 50 summoned when prosecutors originally took it to a grand jury in 2015. The court clerk called several people she knew who could get there quickly.
The courts said that violated the rule that juries should be chosen randomly.
Towns is accused of luring Marietta couple Bud and June Runion to Telfair County to look at a 1966 Mustang he advertised on Craigslist.
Oconee Circuit District Attorney Tim Vaughn was previously seeking the death penalty in the case.
CASE HISTORY
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