TELFAIR COUNTY, Ga. — When Bud and June Runion were murdered in 2015, the case received national attention.
Between the indictment being thrown out, filing appeals, re-indicting, and the COVID-19 pandemic, we're just now getting to preliminary hearings. Those started in late 2023 and will continue this year.
Jay Towns was indicted on murder and armed robbery charges and pleaded not guilty. His indictment was thrown out by the Georgia Supreme Court after there was a violation in how the jurors were selected by then Telfair County Superior Court Clerk Belinda Thomas.
"We had a grand jury sitting here and we didn't want to go through a long process and keep them sitting here all day. Most of our people work," Thomas said.
After fewer than 16 of the 50 jurors showed up, Thomas used a list of jurors that were scheduled to appear for another trial day.
"I called people that I thought could get here in a hurry. It was not that I specifically selected them for a reason," Thomas said.
Oconee District Attorney, Tim Vaughn, said jurors did not show up for the indictment hearing even though they were summoned.
"So when you're sitting there at ten o'clock on Monday morning and you've got a list of 100 something people that you don't have a phone number for, how do you contact them," Vaughn questioned.
Towns was re-indicted in 2020 on the same charges. Before the courts could move forward with the indictment, the pandemic caused another delay.
Fast forward to 2024 and we were able to get a hold of Vaughn. He said he's still seeking the death penalty. He added the preliminary hearings are underway and will continue in March of this year.
A trial date has not been scheduled, but Vaughn said it looks like it could be near August or September. He called the original indictment being thrown out quote "frustrating."
Now that the case is making progress Vaughn said he didn't want to be on camera for risk of interfering with the trial. Back in 2019, defense lawyer Frank Hogue said another mistake would've stopped proceedings altogether.
"If the second indictment for the same crime get dismissed on some irregularity in that indictment, the DA is done. He's not allowed to seek a third indictment," Hogue said.
Towns was denied bond back in 2015. The indictment was thrown out in October of 2019, and the second indictment followed in 2020. He's still at the Dodge County Jail.
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