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

[dancinunderthemoon]

Scotland is in north Telfair County, just east of McRae.

Ok, thanks, you are correct. Thought I had seen it closer to Jacksonville ga and saw that address I think on his myspace account

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jac...b2464fa65b9caa!2m2!1d-82.8432307!2d32.0545304

 

[dancinunderthemoon]

BBM - Somewhere (cannot find) I read that he (Jay) had the Runion's cell phone - did you read that anywhere? IF that is true...why would he have it? The very first time that he was interviewed - there must have been *something* to cause them to interview him. Obviously we don't know what that was - but there has to be some evidence. If I were on the jury and they could show me that he talked to them via cell phone, coupled with the location of their car and their bodies, I would be leaning guilty without any other evidence. They obviously didn't know him - they didn't have other friends in that little town - so what other possible explanation could there be for the Runions to have ANY contact with Jay???

IMO - unless he names another conspirator - all they need is one thing - a fingerprint, an item belonging to the Runions, etc. to seal the deal. Because they were only there (alive) for a short time...They were near his home...they were (or were suspected to be) carrying lots of cash.

I'm not jumping on you here - I just tend to go with the most plausible explanation and it usually (but not always) turns out to be the case. I remember when Jesse Matthew was on the run - and people had all sorts of conspiracies about how he may have been framed, just an innocent young guy going about his business and trying to flirt with a pretty girl, etc. etc.

so far the circumstantial evidence points to him, without solid evidence/dna/fingerprints that we know of but clearly enough to charge him with the murders and robber, but would death penalty be pursued?

 

[dancinunderthemoon]

I don't understand if that is the case (he was an innocent by-stander) - that his attorney would tell him to say nothing and then waive the preliminary hearing. That just means he is going to sit in jail longer. Someone would have to have something extremely powerful to hold over him that would warrant sitting in that Dodge County jail for who knows how long.... I read that the search warrants were issued for guns (they confiscated several) and that they were searching for personal belongings of the Runions that were missing.

without an attorney present, don't talk to the cops without your attorney present, the attorney would handle it all after talking with accused, the LE could twist anything he says (intentional or unintentional if they think they know he's guilty already) or may misunderstand or misinterpret his statements is all I meant

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Do you think without the murder weapon the D.A. can get a guilty verdict? My guess is unless Jay comes forward with another name or LE finds evidence to arrest someone else, he is going down for these murders. His arrest came so quickly and he was charged with murder (not just robbery, lying to LE, etc.) that I believe they have some pretty incriminating stuff. Add to that the statements about "coming from a good family".... I don't think they would do it without good cause. Of course...I could be wrong... wouldn't be the 1st time

Sure. Many cases are tried and successfully won when the murder weapon was never found. Jurors know that often times the murderer will discard the weapons they use. No DA has to produce a weapon to be able to prove their case BARD.

ITA, I do think SS has a mountain of evidence.

I am still of the opinion there is no one else involved in these hideously cruel crimes. He didn't need help nor did he have help. IMO And I don't believe anyone is trying to frame JTs either.

Was the way he planned out these murders foolish? Of course, and we have seen this happen countless other times in other murder cases.

If a retired NASA rocket scientist (Don Morengello-Guilty of premeditated murder) can be stupid enough to weigh his wife's dead body down in a bay just 50 feet behind their own home and throw the gun he used into the same bay right behind their home....then I don't have one problem thinking JT was just as stupid in carrying out his acts of murder.

I have lived in South Georgia all my life about 60 miles from McRae and I have never even heard of Jacksonville until this case.

Didn't someone put up a link that said Telfair County is the 6th safest county in Georgia?

 

[dancinunderthemoon]

What if they didn't just talk? What if Daddy helped clean up the mess? I hope the police trailed the father between the time he left the woods after talking to Ronnie and before he helped Ronnie turn himself in. We might wind up with a story like this one: Mom accused of covering for son in murder cold case

hmmm, makes me think of Joran Van Der Sloot

I didnt' think of that because of his adamant behavior of his sons innocence

 

[oceanblueeyes]

so far the circumstantial evidence points to him, without solid evidence/dna/fingerprints that we know of but clearly enough to charge him with the murders and robber, but would death penalty be pursued?

I believe they do have DNA evidence such as fingerprints and any possessions of the Runions found in JTs home. CE cases are some of the strongest cases tried and most are CE cases.

If they attach the death penalty to this case they certainly feel they have enough evidence to prove it BARD and I do think they will ask for the DP.

They will consult with the victims family who may not want death but the DA is the one that solely decides in the end if its a DP case. Some cases cry out for the DP and this is one of them. The DA would want to send a message that no one can do this in their county and not expect the harshest punishment allowed by law.

 

[JudyBolton]

I believe they do have DNA evidence such as fingerprints and any possessions of the Runions found in JTs home. CE cases are some of the strongest cases tried and most are CE cases.

If they attach the death penalty to this case they certainly feel they have enough evidence to prove it BARD and I do think they will ask for the DP.

They will consult with the victims family who may not want death but the DA is the one that solely decides in the end if its a DP case. Some cases cry out for the DP and this is one of them. The DA would want to send a message that no one can do this in their county and not expect the harshest punishment allowed by law.

BBM - I totally agree - we aren't Texas but these Georgia Sheriffs don't mess around. This is the most high profile case they've ever had...and the Runions belong in the top 1% of nicest couples I've ever known about. They won't be looking for any loopholes to help Jay -imho.

 

[Sonya610]

I think they would go for the DP but if the evidence is not VERY strong they had best give the jury other options or they risk acquittal.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I think they would go for the DP but if the evidence is not VERY strong they had best give the jury other options or they risk acquittal.

IMO, the DA would never go for the death penalty if the evidence isn't strong.

What other options, if I may ask?

The major problem he has is he was in the middle of committing felony armed robbery when he murdered these two victims. I don't think he or his DT can get around those monumental facts.

I don't see any other options they would have to offer other than the top charges.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

The reason may be just plain common sense. If he admits to having an accomplice he admits his own guilt.

Also his daddy had a whole night to talk sense to him before he was taken into custody; I would assume his daddy's advice was "keep your mouth shut no matter what the police say". The fact that they can't find the murder weapon strongly implies he is staying silent.

In this case even if he COULD pin the killings on an accomplice it wouldn't make much difference sentence wise, he will likely be sent away for the rest of his life even if he does cooperate. If he does stay silent then the DA has to come up with hard evidence, at this point it sounds like they don't have the phone or the murder weapon, though they SHOULD be able to come up with some computer evidence showing he accessed the craigs list ad (unless he accessed it from his burner phone? not likely but if he did that would make it harder to prove).

why is it not likely craigslist was accessed via cell phone? it is pretty simple, IMO.

 

[Sonya610]

why is it not likely craigslist was accessed via cell phone? it is pretty simple, IMO.

Because I would assume he might have bought a cheap burner phone that may not have good internet access, then again I haven't bought one lately and don't know. I also don't see him as being smart enough to use public wifi, but maybe he is.

Oceanblueeyes -- remember the Nichol's case? He shot a judge and a court reporter to death in court, along with a few other folks, and he did NOT receive the DP because the jury had choices (of course jury nullification probably played a role in that, the evidence was rock solid).

 

[blue mermaid]

 

[wildebeest]

I think SS has some solid evidence against RJT, and that is the reason for his arrest.

Was sad all day yesterday, thinking about this wonderful couple, who did so much to help others, and had so much to live for, being laid to rest, prematurely. I kept thinking they should have been heading out for the day in their Mustang, top down, without a care in the world.

Let's hope that justice prevails...

IMHO

 

[margarita25]

That can't be because the LE in that area were not even involved for over 12 hours after they were reported missing. So that would have been late Friday at the soonest


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

They might have been referring to the earlier pings from Thursday after they got a chance to examine the phone information...? Meaning, the last ping they got before there was no more activity on the phone was from Thursday, but they were not privy to that information til Saturday?

 

[McMunn]

When I was researching some maps yesterday, I came across one that had a different name for County Road 145. It is called Briley Road on Yahoo maps. Remember when the Runions stopped and spoke with the Kinnett's at the antique shop, and they said that the street name no longer existed? I wonder if this is the name of the street that JT gave to them? https://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=31.901825345570117&lon=-82.93107032775879&bb=31.92229852%2C-82.95806408%2C31.88134762%2C-82.90407658&addr=Macon%2C%20GA. Intellicast weather map has it as "Biley" Road without the "R."

 

[blue mermaid]

When I was researching some maps yesterday, I came across one that had a different name for County Road 145. It is called Briley Road on Yahoo maps. Remember when the Runions stopped and spoke with the Kinnett's at the antique shop, and they said that the street name no longer existed? I wonder if this is the name of the street that JT gave to them? https://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=31.901825345570117&lon=-82.93107032775879&bb=31.92229852%2C-82.95806408%2C31.88134762%2C-82.90407658&addr=Macon%2C%20GA. Intellicast weather map has it as "Biley" Road without the "R."

I saw that too, McMunn, and wondered if that was the address the Runions were searching for.
A search in the Telfair County property records for transactions along that road reveal the last name Briley.

 

[Backwoods]

BBM - Somewhere (cannot find) I read that he (Jay) had the Runion's cell phone - did you read that anywhere? IF that is true...why would he have it? The very first time that he was interviewed - there must have been *something* to cause them to interview him. Obviously we don't know what that was - but there has to be some evidence. If I were on the jury and they could show me that he talked to them via cell phone, coupled with the location of their car and their bodies, I would be leaning guilty without any other evidence. They obviously didn't know him - they didn't have other friends in that little town - so what other possible explanation could there be for the Runions to have ANY contact with Jay???

IMO - unless he names another conspirator - all they need is one thing - a fingerprint, an item belonging to the Runions, etc. to seal the deal. Because they were only there (alive) for a short time...They were near his home...they were (or were suspected to be) carrying lots of cash.

I'm not jumping on you here - I just tend to go with the most plausible explanation and it usually (but not always) turns out to be the case. I remember when Jesse Matthew was on the run - and people had all sorts of conspiracies about how he may have been framed, just an innocent young guy going about his business and trying to flirt with a pretty girl, etc. etc.

I basically agree with you ... except WHAT IF all they "have" is the evidence that the Runions talked to someone using the burner phone -- how can they prove it was Jay on the phone?

 

[Backwoods]

IMO, the DA would never go for the death penalty if the evidence isn't strong.

What other options, if I may ask?

The major problem he has is he was in the middle of committing felony armed robbery when he murdered these two victims. I don't think he or his DT can get around those monumental facts.

I don't see any other options they would have to offer other than the top charges.

The option not to impose the death penalty. I don't believe it is mandatory, is it?

 

[Tallula.Belle]

Some interesting info in the Atlanta Journal article. Just breaks my heart.

www.myajc.com/news/news/an-ordinary...cial_facebook_2014_sfp#4d1f6355.257144.735630

 

[Backwoods]

Some interesting info in the Atlanta Journal article. Just breaks my heart.

www.myajc.com/news/news/an-ordinary-thursday-a-deadly-quest/nj2ff/?ecmp=ajc_social_facebook_2014_sfp#4d1f6355.257144.735630

For me, the link leads to a sentence or two and then a "pay up" message. Is it something you can summarize?

ETA: Never mind, I just got it to open on up.

ETA again: A really fine job on that story, IMO. Somebody did their homework.

Do y'all get from the article that Jay was probably first interviewed Saturday...?