2015 Stories of the Year: Telfair man charged in couple's Craigslist slaying
No. 3 Story of the Year
January 1, 2016
2015 Stories of the Year: Telfair man charged in couple's Craigslist slaying
Ronnie “Jay” Towns, fired from his job at a tree-removal service in January and said to be desperate for money, allegedly bought a throw-away cellphone and began contacting people interested in buying cars and other merchandise.
Towns, 28, from the McRae area, was jailed on murder and armed robbery charges in the wake of a late-January double slaying that, because of its supposed ties to the popular Internet marketplace Craigslist, garnered international headlines.
Allegations in the case emerged in the spring at a bond hearing for Towns, accused of gunning down a Cobb County couple who’d ventured into south Georgia to Telfair County to buy a vintage hot rod.
Towns was jailed Jan. 26, the day Elrey “Bud” Runion and his wife, June, turned up dead with gunshot wounds to the head.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Towns. He is accused of killing June Runion, who was 66, and Bud Runion, 69, when the pair traveled Jan. 22 to meet someone about buying a car near the south-Telfair hamlet of Jacksonville. Bud Runion had posted a Craigslist ad because he was looking to purchase a 1966 Ford Mustang.
Authorities believe Towns fooled the Runions into thinking such a car was for sale.
The Runions’ bodies were found along a dirt road not far from where Towns’ parents live on a 300-acre farm south of McRae-Helena in rural Telfair County. The slain couple’s 2003 GMC Envoy was ditched in a nearby pond.
This story was originally published January 1, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "2015 Stories of the Year: Telfair man charged in couple's Craigslist slaying."