TELFAIR COUNTY, Ga. — We first reported Monday on the new evidence found in the Telfair County double murder case. Many viewers took the conversation to social and asked questions about the evidence, who 13WMAZ spoke with, and the status of the case.
We took some questions and comments from viewers and answered them.
1. "What led you to Telfair for the interview on the new evidence in the Runion case - did the former sheriff ask you to come or did someone ask you to interview him?" - Andrea Davidson
We received an anonymous call Friday evening about possible new evidence found. We reached out to Telfair County Sheriff Sim Davidson via text for comment and he said "GBI is overseeing this case, so I would refer any media requests pertaining to the case directly to them."
2. "Steverson should be in jail for tampering with evidence and obstruction of an ongoing investigation." - Adrian Griffin
The former sheriff of Telfair County Chris Steverson says this false. Steverson told 13WMAZ after the magnet fisherman found June Runion's purse in the creek, the fisherman tried to call the Telfair County Sheriff's Office.
The man says he waited for more than two hours for a deputy to arrive before calling Steverson because the deputy never showed up, Steverson called the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to let them know what was found so they could collect what was found.
"I felt more comfortable being here. I didn't examine the evidence, I didn't touch the evidence, I was here with eyes on the evidence until an agent could respond," Steverson said.
When 13WMAZ called and asked Sheriff Sim Davidson Monday morning where he was when the .22 caliber rifle and purse were found, he told us he was not there and was out of town. Sheriff Davidson did tell us, his office did assist with the search warrants on April 17 and 19.
3. "I thought it was against the law to impersonate law enforcement. Steverson is not the sheriff and he's on TV acting like he is?" - Kristy Nicole Cravey
Yes, in the state of Georgia, it is against the law to impersonate a public officer. In our Monday story, we refer to Steverson as the former Telfair County sheriff. Yesterday, Steverson told us he was only acting as an informed citizen when he spoke with the GBI and not as an investigator or law enforcement officer.
"I actually came out myself just to help maintain the integrity of the evidence until someone from law enforcement could arrive," Steverson said.
4. "Why hate on the man they contacted? I don't understand what that's got to do with anything." - Chris Harris
13WMAZ decided to pursue this story to report on because of the new evidence that was found in a case that's been ongoing for almost 10 years. We texted and called Sheriff Davidson and he said he did not want to speak on it because "it could be harmful to the case."
We decided to speak with Chris Steverson, who is also running for sheriff, because he was at the creek on Old Prison Camp Road after the pocketbook was found and let the GBI take the evidence. We did reach out to the GBI for further information and received the press release.
In January, we reported on double-murder suspect Jay Towns and the status of his trial which has not yet been scheduled. You can find that story here.