GUILTY FL - Joni Gunter, 30, found dismembered, Jacksonville, 11 Feb 2016 *Arrest*

[Jax49]

Father: Man charged with killing buried woman 'deserves what he gets'

Russell Tillis facing murder charge after remains found at Southside home


http://www.news4jax.com/news/russell-tillis-charged-with-murder_

Timeline

• May 22, 2012: Tillis’ mother, Margie, signs over her house at 3551 Bowden Circle East to Russell Tillis after he’s released from prison.
• June 19, 2012: Margie Tillis dies.
• May 28, 2015: Tillis is arrested for aggravated assault on two police officers who went to his home to arrest him on outstanding warrants.
• Feb. 11, 2016: Jacksonville Sheriff's Office finds human remains at Tillis’ home after digging for two days. The search warrant was obtained after police got a tip Feb. 5 from a jail inmate.
• March 1, 2016: JSO releases a faded photograph of a woman in connection with the investigation, hoping someone recognizes her. JSO still does not know the woman's identity.
• July 21, 2016: Medical examiner lists the cause of death of the remains found as a homicide. There's still no identity on the victim. Tillis’ house is condemned.
• Dec. 8, 2016: Police identify the murder victim as Joni Lynn Gunter, announce Tillis is charged with murder, kidnapping and other charges, and say there could be more victims.

 

[Tulessa]

[video=youtube;moSFAhlxJ_Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFAhlxJ_Q[/video]

 

[Jax49]

So the UID here is based on the photograph and not any actual additional human remains being discovered?

I'm asking that because I've read about his past and how his neighbors had been ready for him to leave for a while even before Gunter's remains were found. He's done everything from exposing his junk to neighbors to trying to flatten tires to chaining a prostitute to a fence.

Whenever I saw "victim" mentioned, I'd assumed that it meant "murder victim" since the main reason he's in the news is due to Gunter's death. But now I realize that anyone that's ever come across Tillis could be considered a victim of some sort. Glad I don't live in his neighborhood.

BBM

Correct. The only body found (so far) has been identified as Joni Lynn Gunter.

LE is still asking for help to identify the woman in the photo. She may or may not be a victim of Tillis.

 

[Romulus]

I'm curious to know if Russell Tillis has always lived them in Florida or previously lived in any other state; you could make a match with the missing persons with the same range of age in a given period.

 

[Romulus]

Because the new thread on the girl not identified the photo was hung up to this? If the girl on the picture is not Joni Gunter could be some other girl disappeared; however, if the moderators have decided so that's great!!

 

[Jax49]

Tillis House of Horrors to be demolished in January

<defunct link>

Over the years, some of Tillis's neighbors petitioned the courts for injunctions against him. Annette Campbell is one of them.
"He scared us to death," says Campbell. "I'd be afraid to go to bed at night. I was afraid he would slip over and start a fire under my house."

 

[0101ABA]

Man to be arraigned in death of woman whose body found in yard

A man will be formally arraigned Wednesday morning on murder and other charges in the death of a woman whose dismembered body was found buried in the yard of his Southside home.

Russell Tillis, 55, is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. in Duval Court court for two separate cases, including the death of Joni Gunter, whose remains were discovered last February.

 

[0101ABA]

Russell Tillis to get 4th attorney in aggravated assault case

Jury selection was set to begin Monday for Russell Tillis, who is facing charges of assaulting law enforcement officers in 2015, but Tillis will instead be getting a new attorney -- his fourth.

Tillis, 55, is also accused of killing, dismembering and burying a young woman in the yard of his Southside home, but a trial date for those charges has not been set.

Tillis' attorney, Kevin Carlisle, filed a motion Monday to withdraw from the aggravated assault case, weeks after Tillis accused Carlisle of secretly recording their jailhouse conversations.

 

[JaxFlaGal]

More evidence is being presented
http://www.news4jax.com/news/crime/documents-show-what-led-police-to-remains-at-russell-tillis-home

News4Jax has learned that police started digging at his property the day after Tillis, while in jail on other charges, told an inmate wearing a hidden microphone about "a prostitute and drug user."

He's due back in court 3/22

 

[0101ABA]

Judge refuses psychiatric evaluation in court for man accused of killing, burying woman

The man accused of murdering a woman and burying her in his yard faced a judge again Friday, where multiple motions were heard, including the rejection of a psychiatric evaluation.

(...)

The judge went over multiple motions that included whether there were any actual "booby traps" on Tillis' property, whether the Jacksonville Sheriff&#8217;s Office failed to document surveillance video of the arrest and whether a psychiatric evaluation of Tillis will be brought into court.

The judge decided that, for now, the psychiatric evaluation will not be allowed to be brought into court.

 

[0101ABA]

State Attorney&#8217;s Office will seek death penalty for Russell Tillis

The State Attorney&#8217;s Office will seek the death penalty for Russell Tillis, the Jacksonville man charged with murder in the death of a homeless woman whose remains were buried in his booby-trapped yard, a spokesman confirmed Thursday.

(...)

The news comes the same day that a grand jury indicted Tillis on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, human trafficking and abuse of a dead human body in the death of 30-year-old Joni Lynn Gunter.

 

[0101ABA]

Police dig again at property where woman found buried

Police dug again this week at the former property of a man accused of murdering a woman and burying her dismembered remains in his yard.

The slab was pulled up Tuesday at property once owned by Russell Tillis. Investigators started searching Monday night and were seen packing up Wednesday afternoon.

Several evidence vans were at the property Tuesday, along with two excavators, as crews sifted through broken cement and dirt.

 

[0101ABA]

New battery trial for Russell Tillis is scheduled to start Oct. 16

A Southside man whose battery trial came to a grinding halt after a judge declared a mistrial less than midway through will get another day in court in October.

Jacksonville police in 2015 arrested Russell David Tillis on battery on a law enforcement charge among other charges after a police officer was injured when he stepped on a partially buried board that was riddled with 4-inch nails sticking upright. Razors also were discovered in the bushes and a tripwire, police said at the first trial. Police think Tillis intentionally set the booby-traps in his yard.

 

[Renee110]

I would be in prison by now with no parole. What the hell is up with bad guys getting kitten treatment???? Since when are criminals the victims and the victims don't matter?

 

[JaxFlaGal]

Some records and photos released, but the local news is only presenting a handful of them.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/photos-give-glimpse-inside-home-where-woman-found-buried

Police took more than 800 evidence photos at the home, which has since been torn down. Those photos include the grave in which police said Gunter was buried, her wrapped-up remains, power tools, blades, chains and chemicals, and equipment laid out in an organized way.

 

[JaxFlaGal]

Trial for the murder is set for spring 2018
http://jacksonville.com/news/public...s-russell-tillis-jacksonville-cases-including

[FONT=&quot]Tillis&#8217; attorney on the capital murder case, James Hernandez, told Borello that he&#8217;d be ready for a trial in November 2018. Borello went ahead and scheduled a May 14, 2018, date for jury selection and left open the possibility for a November 2018 trial if additional time is needed to prepare.[/FONT]

 

[0101ABA]

Russell Tillis enters guilty plea to assault-on-officer charges

Weeks after his lawyer asked a judge to dismiss the charges against him, Russell Tillis pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree felony assault on a police officer.

 

[Romulus]

Because the new thread on the girl not identified the photo was hung up to this? If the girl on the picture is not Joni Gunter could be some other girl disappeared; however, if the moderators have decided so that's great!!

<defunct link>

Man shocked to learn sister dead, found buried

GUILTY - FL - Joni Gunter, 30, found dismembered, Jacksonville, 11 Feb 2016 *Arrest*

Moderators is possible open a thread for this? Waiting instructions!

 

[Bit of hope]

[h=4]Also said there were 800 pics... and If you look at the house before it was demolished...it had a lot of mirrors....Of all the pictures out there I didn't recognize the chairs and the red wall...maybe it was taken somewhere else years earlier? He went to prison...when was he going to prison and why? Where did he live before he went to prisson? When was Jori Gunter missing?

https://www.news4jax.com/news/photos-give-glimpse-inside-home-where-woman-found-buried_
Timeline[/h]

• May 22, 2012: Tillis&#8217; mother, Margie, signs over her house at 3551 Bowden Circle East to Russell Tillis after he&#8217;s released from prison.
• June 19, 2012: Margie Tillis dies.
• May 28, 2015: Tillis is arrested for aggravated assault on two police officers who went to his home to arrest him on outstanding warrants.
• Feb. 11, 2016: Jacksonville Sheriff's Office finds human remains at Tillis&#8217; home after digging for two days. The search warrant was obtained after police got a tip Feb. 5 from a jail inmate.
• March 1, 2016: JSO releases a faded photograph of a woman in connection with the investigation, hoping someone recognizes her. JSO still does not know the woman's identity.
• July 21, 2016: Medical examiner lists the cause of death of the remains found as a homicide. There's still no identity on the victim. Tillis&#8217; house is condemned.
• Dec. 8, 2016: Police identify the murder victim as Joni Lynn Gunter, announce Tillis is charged with murder, kidnapping and other charges, and say there could be more victims.

"Suspect Russell Tillis targeted vulnerable members of our society," Asst. Chief Scott Dingee said. "Based on statements Tillis made, we believe it&#8217;s highly likely that other females were victimized by Tillis, including other murders. Based on his history, Tillis sought out vulnerable young females -- white females, in particular, with a history of drug abuse and prostitution. So we ask that anyone who knew the victim or anyone who may have been victimized by Tillis, anyone who has family members that may have associated with Tillis and now their family members are missing, anyone with additional information, we ask that they contact the police."
Police searched Tillis' Bowden Circle East property for days after Gunter's body was found, but said they found no other human remains.
They returned to search the property again earlier this year but have not said if the second search turned up any remains. Jury selection for Tillis' kidnapping and murder trial will begin Nov. 5, 2018. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

 

[Jax49]

[h=1]Court documents reveal potential strategy in Tillis case[/h]Court documents are shedding light on the potential strategy for both the prosecution and the defense in the Russell Tillis murder trial.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/artic...otential-strategy-in-tillis-case/77-534304566

Monday, Tillis&#8217; attorneys filed a motion for a bill of particulars, asking the state to provide the most specific timeline possible for Gunter&#8217;s murder.

&#8220;You need to know, as a defense attorney, when these incidents occurred,&#8221; Janet Johnson, a criminal defense attorney who is not associated with the Tillis case, said. &#8220;So that I can&#8230;was my client there? Was he incarcerated? Was he somewhere where he has witnesses?&#8221;

Johnson added that the state will likely have a hard time pinning down the exact time of Gunter&#8217;s death, which the defense could use in trial.