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Putnam Court documents describe case against Dubose, Rowe

Putnam County court documents provide few new details on prosecutors' case against Ricky Allen Dubose and Donnie Russell Rowe.

They're the men accused of killing two corrections officers and fleeing to Tennessee last week.

Both men are charged with two counts of murder, one count of hijacking a motor vehicle and one count of escape.

Putnam court officials released documents in the case after the two prison inmates made a first appearance Wednesday.

Ricky Dubose and Donnie Rowe entering a Putnam County Court room Wednesday morning.

In addition to four arrest warrants against each man, the court also released a record of their first appearance and the form each man signed in Tennessee waiving extradition.

The arrest warrants do not state which inmate is accused of shooting officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica.

They simply state that the two officers were shot with a handgun, and with "malice aforethought," on Highway 16 east in Putnam on June 13.

The hijacking warrants describe how the men stole a Honda Accord from Phillip Beasley that day "by force and intimidation."

And the escape warrants accuse the two men of fleeing state Department of Corrections custody.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills swore out all eight warrants against the men.

The first-appearance forms were signed by Judge Brenda Trammell on Wednesday.

They state that the suspects were advised of their rights -- for example, their right to remain silent and their right to an attorney.

It also states that court officials explained the court process going forward to them.

The document states that the next Putnam County grand jury session is Sept. 18. That's the soonest that District Attorney Stephen Bradley could seek an indictment of the two men.

Dubose and Rowe signed the extradition waivers on Friday, after being arrested in Rutherford County, Tennessee. They state that they are willing to return to Georgia to face the charges against them.

Both men also state that they signed the forms voluntarily and weren't forced to sign by law enforcement.

Rowe scrawled an illegible signature on the extradition form; Dubose simply scratched out, "Ricky.

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Dubose and Rowe have violent pasts

"I've changed for the best...No more asking me for stuff if you aint changed dont bother asking me for anything im done with my old life true friends will understand."

Ricky Dubose posted those words on Facebook on Sept. 8, 2013.

A year later, Dubose would be sentenced to 20 years in prison with no chance of parole.

Less than four years later, Dubose would the subject of an intense manhunt after authorities said he and another inmate, Donnie Rowe, killed two corrections officers and fled.

RICKY DUBOSE

PHOTOS: Ricky Dubose, escaped inmate

Dubose, 24, was serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in the 2014 armed robbery of an elderly homeless veteran who had said that he thought of Dubose like a grandson.

According to the case summary provided by the U.S. District Attorney's Office, Dubose and another man, Darrell Eugene Montford, were planning to rob a store on Sept. 3, 2014.

The two had cell-phone conversations, which were recorded, where they planned the robbery.

LISTEN: Audio of escaped Georgia prisoner planning 2014 armed robbery

"You got a little mask and [expletive] for you," Dubose is heard saying. "Like something to cover you, put over your face a little bit?"

They met a 67-year-old man at a gas station, purportedly to buy a .45-caliber handgun. As he handed the gun to Montford to examine, he said Montford took out a 9-mm handgun and then demanded his wallet.

As the victim went to hand over his wallet, he said that Montford, unprovoked, shot him in the hand with his own gun. The suspects then ordered the victim to the ground and took his wallet, which contained $120 in cash, a debit card and driver's license.

Montford and Dubose were later arrested. At one point, the district attorney's office said that Dubose was going to testify against , but instead "attempted to frustrate justice by preventing the State from convicting Montford." Montford ended up receiving a life sentence after being found guilty.

Dubose pleaded guilty to armed robbery, aggravated assault and theft by taking. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole, and was eligible for release in 2034.

Prior to that, Dubose had previous convictions on credit card fraud, financial identity fraud, theft by taking, burglary, robbery and a single conviction for entering a vehicle.

When he was on the outside of prison, Dubose was reportedly part of the Ghostface Gangsters. Despite the fact that his accomplice in the armed robbery that put him behind bars was black, while in prison, Dubose was said to be associated with several gangs affiliated with white supremacy.

Dubose's mother told our Atlanta station -WXIA-TV - on Wednesday that he had hurt his family enough and urged him to turn himself in.

Donnie Russell Rowe

Donnie Rowe had just finished a prison sentence in Tennessee seven months earlier when a one-night violent crime spree in Georgia landed him in jail for the rest of his life.

In October 2001, he and another man robbed a man at a rest stop on Interstate 75 and then forced his way into a Super 8 motel room in Bibb County.

One of the victims testified Rowe demanded his money and said, "he should kill me for only having $3."

Rowe then fired a single shot from a 32-caliber handgun into the headboard just inches away from where another guest in the room was sitting.

Rowe was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Behind bars

At some point, Rowe and Dubose met behind bars. Department of Corrections Assistant Commissioner Ricky Myrick said 43-year-old Rowe and Dubose have been cell mates more than once, but he wasn't sure whether they were cell mates at Baldwin State Prison just prior to their escape.

Myrick said the two have known each other for "quite a while".

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