Man on trial for murder testifies he never told his friend to kill his drug supplier

Cole Crouch testified at his murder trial Thursday that he never told his friend Tom Kelley to kill a California man whom he owed $15,000 in drug money.

Crouch is accused of planning and orchestrating the Aug. 18, 2013, slaying of Ruben Miranda, 32, who supplied Crouch with marijuana and methamphetamine for resale, at his rented residence in west Houston County, officials said. Shaland McConnell, 30, whom the defense claimed Miranda brought along as “muscle” to collect the debt, was also shot to death in the Chadwick Road home.

“I think it would be a very dumb plan to kill someone in my living room,” Crouch told jurors.

Kelley, who’s serving a life sentence plus 10 years for the slayings, testified Thursday that he originally told Houston County sheriff’s investigators that Crouch put him up to the killings. But Kelley, on the witness stand, said he could not remember much about the killings.

“It’s a blur, but I remember it vaguely,” he said.

Kelley, who was taking prescription medications but said he was not high on alcohol or other drugs at the time, was not able to give jurors an explanation of why he killed the men.

“I pulled the trigger,” Kelley said “There was something about a plan, but I didn’t act on it.”

Crouch said Kelley was aware of the threats Miranda had made on his life. Crouch testified that Miranda had threatened to rape Crouch’s mother and put a bullet in her head before killing his girlfriend, his father and him over the drug money.

Crouch said he had been selling drugs supplied by Miranda for several months, picking him up at Groome Transportation in Warner Robins twice a week and then taking him around town to others to drop off the “product.” He said Miranda’s drug operation was based in California, but he also had a residence in Jonesboro.

Crouch said he was taking about $15,000 worth of cocaine to east Macon for Miranda when he approached a police roadblock and threw the drugs out the window. When he returned a few hours later to retrieve the cocaine, it was gone, and Miranda expected payment.

Crouch said he paid off $10,000 of the debt, but then got the debt back up to $15,000. He said Miranda was selling him a lesser grade of the marijuana for the same price. Crouch said he was losing money selling those drugs instead of making a profit.

On the night of the killings, Miranda was standing on a tarp that had been placed on the floor in the living room, Kelley testified, when he shot him first in the chest and then in the back of the head. Kelley said McConnell was sitting on the couch when he shot him in the head.

Kelley testified that he and his fiancee at the time, Kristen Buethin, had gone to Wal-Mart to get the tarp. Beuthin testified earlier this week that Crouch told them to buy the tarp for “easy cleanup” of a killing. Crouch denied that.

Justice Evans testified Thursday that when Crouch called him to come over that night, he and his girlfriend in 2013, Amy Patricia Walker, thought they were just going to be hanging out. Evans said he did not know what was about to happen when Kelley opened fire. He said Crouch was coming down the steps from the third floor when shots rang out.

Crouch testified that he was bringing down a weapon that he was trying to trade to Miranda to be used toward his debt when he was surprised by the gunfire and wanted to know “what the hell had happened.”

Makayla Clifton, who dated Crouch for a short time in early 2013, testified Thursday that Crouch had told her about the $15,000 drug debt about six months before the killings.

“He wasn’t going to pay him the money he owed him,” Clifton told jurors. “He was going to kill him.”

But Crouch said she was lying. He said he broke up with Clifton to date another woman whom Clifton did not get along with.

When pressed by Assistant District Attorney Greg Winters about the testimony against him, including from Crouch’s roommate who was not involved in the killings, Crouch responded, “Everybody’s lying except for me right now.”

Because many people knew that he owed Miranda money and because of numerous cellphone calls between them, Crouch testified that he was “afraid of how it would look” if the slayings were found out.

Crouch admitted to helping clean up the crime scene and to helping dump the bodies in a heavily wooded area known as Vinson Valley off Ga. 49. He, Kelley and Evans dragged the bodies into Kelley’s yellow pickup, according to testimony. Kelley drove the bodies to property in Vinson Valley owned by his family. Crouch and Evans met him there, and the men then dragged the bodies into the woods and covered them with the tarp, according to testimony from the three men.

Evans and Beuthin are in prison after pleading guilty to concealing the deaths and tampering with evidence by helping to clean up the crime scene. Murder and related charges against them were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Walker, who was never charged with murder, is expected to plead guilty later this month to concealing the deaths and tampering with evidence. She testified Wednesday. Kelley’s life sentence includes the possibility of parole.

Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys Friday.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Man on trial for murder testifies he never told his friend to kill his drug supplier."