More charges for man acquitted of murdering Georgia teacher

FITZGERALD, Ga. — Two weeks after a jury acquitted a south Georgia man of murdering a trainer in 2005 — however convicted him of a lesser cost — the person was indicted on new fees in a neighboring county.

A grand jury on Friday indicted Ryan Duke on six counts together with concealing a dying, hindering apprehension of a prison, concealing details and proof tampering within the dying of Tara Grinstead of Ocilla.

Grinstead vanished in 2005 and her disappearance from Irwin County remained a thriller for greater than a decade till Duke’s 2017 confession.

However throughout a trial final month, Duke testified that his confession was false. Protection lawyer John Service provider instructed jurors a buddy, Bo Dukes, as an alternative killed Grinstead. Dukes was convicted in 2019 of serving to transfer and burn Grinstead’s physique however was by no means charged with homicide.

Duke stated Dukes woke him up on the cellular dwelling the place they lived collectively in 2005 and stated he had killed Grinstead and confirmed Duke the trainer’s purse and pockets. Duke testified that he lied to investigators as a result of Dukes had already killed one particular person and he was afraid.

Duke was acquitted of homicide however discovered responsible of concealing a dying within the Irwin County trial and sentenced to a complete of 10 years in jail. Having already served 5 years in jail, Duke might serve 5 extra years.

The brand new fees might add far more time onto Duke’s sentence. Constructing off his testimony at trial, he’s accused of concealing Grinstead’s physique, transferring her physique, burning the physique within the pecan orchard to maintain officers from arresting Dukes and never telling officers the place the stays have been.

Dukes was discovered responsible by jurors in 2019 of mendacity to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, hindering the arrest of Duke, and concealing Grinstead’s dying. He instructed in the end instructed investigators that Duke confessed to him that Duke had strangled Grinstead and had used Dukes’ pickup truck to maneuver the physique. Dukes stated Duke took him to a pecan orchard, confirmed him Grinstead’s physique mendacity in tall grass, and the 2 burned the physique for 2 days till “it regarded prefer it was all ash.”

Dukes is serving a 25-year-prison sentence. He has not been charged with homicide.

Whereas Duke was beforehand charged in Irwin County, Friday’s indictments have been issued in Ben Hill County, which neighbors Irwin County to the north.

Dukes additionally faces further concealment fees issued earlier in Ben Hill County. His earlier trial was in Wilcox County, the place he was interviewed by GBI brokers.

Grinstead was final seen leaving a night cookout in rural south Georgia. A historical past trainer and former magnificence queen, Grinstead was 30 when she disappeared.

Duke led investigators to the pecan grove owned by Dukes’ uncle in Ben Hill County the place he stated the 2 burned Grinstead’s physique. Investigators recovered bone fragments, which prosecution witnesses at trial stated was according to one grownup. Nonetheless, DNA evaluation was inconclusive.

A latex glove discovered within the entrance yard of Grinstead’s dwelling contained her DNA, that of Duke, and a 3rd one that couldn’t be conclusively recognized.

Mercer College Regulation Professor David Oedel instructed WMAZ-TV earlier this week, earlier than Duke was indicted once more, that Dukes could possibly argue that he is going through double jeopardy — illegally being charged twice for a similar crime.

“It’s a query of how a lot you view the completely different indictments, the completely different fees as overlapping,” Oedel stated.