"I asked them what they thought happened to Tara, and they said they killed her and burned her," Latt said. ", Duke's attorney's argued that he had been a "model prisoner" for five years while "waiting patiently for his day in court.". ", BO DUKES: Yeah. "Two men who had no regard for a beautiful, loving person took her life. New Jersey Residents: N.J. Lic. AIKEN, SC - Vicki Heilig Dukes, 65, died Thursday, September 15, 2016 at Aiken Regional Medical Centers. BRAD RIGBY | PROSECUTOR: This case is about Bo's lies, lies that lasted from 2005 to 2016. But McCullough was determined to get the truth out. "That is a question that has bothered me for years," he said. Prosecutors said Duke took law enforcement to the pecan orchard where he confessed to burning and dumping Grinstead's body. "There were some days that the heartache was so great we could barely even function," she said. Need help? Peter Van Sant: And by Ryan saying to him, "Hey, buddy. The jury heard the confession Duke made in 2017. Ocilla Police Chief Billy Hancock called theGeorgia Bureau of Investigationto help. Sometime in the night, Bo and Ben left while he and Stephen were sleeping. Funeral homes; Help and advice. Anita Gattis said her sister's disappearance threw her family into "an out-of-control spiral" that they've never escaped. Brooke Sheridan: I said, "You need to confess. Grinstead's best friend, sister, and step mother took to the stand to describe the pain they have felt since her 2005 disappearance. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. Maria Woods Harber: And the next morning I got a call saying that I need to get to Ocilla. Peter Van Sant: What did you see when you walked into her house? Ryan is the one talking about 411 getting connected to Taras house.". Finally, he cracked. Peter Van Sant: The kind of guy you want to share a foxhole with, right? Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. It was a year after Tara's disappearance. Maria Woods Harber: She was an excellent teacher. No services are scheduled at this time. Let others know about your loved one's death. Neighbors knocked on her door but got no response. The family will receive friends Thursday morning, May 3rd beginning at 10 oclock at Shellhouse Rivers Funeral Home. And wish I could have been there whenever it happened so that way, I could do something [emotional]. Brooke Sheridan: It was something very dark and I I chalked it up to, you know, serving his time in the military. Incredibly, McCullough says, no one returned his calls. SHELLHOUSE RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, 715 EAST PINE LOG RD., AIKEN, SC. "I said, 'You need to confess. All rights reserved. Texas Residents: For additional information regarding prepaid funeral contracts, please visit the website www.prepaidfunerals.texas.gov which is maintained by the Texas Department of Banking. Duke said he was on drugs at the time he broke into Grinstead's Ocilla home and doesnt remember how exactly he killed her. McCullough said he called authorities but they never followed up. I'm not gonna shy away to the fact that I was I was bitter. A "panicked" Bo Dukes woke him up the following morning, Ryan Duke testified. Obituary. Ryan Dukes said he started to see Bo Dukes more often after he was discharged from the Army for being AWOL. But I think it's taken a lot of toll on them mentally and physically. I didn't mean to.". And what she had to say implicated a man whose name had repeatedly been given to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Before the sentencing, Connie Grinstead, Tara Grinstead's stepmother, told the judge that "for over 11 years we went to bed every night wondering where Tara was and every morning we woke up with the same question - where is she?". GBI Agent Jason Shoudel was on the stand to testify. In 2012 he was charged and convicted of stealing more than $150,000 worth of military supplies. Maria Woods Harber:and then her bed was unmade, like she had been in the bed. Back then, hardly anyone thought this case would ever be solved. her main goal was to win Miss Georgia or at least to get to Miss Georgia, and she did. Ryan worked at a plastics manufacturing plant, while Bo would occasionally work at his family's pecan farm. It took a jury less than an hour to convict Bo Dukes on all charges. Brown & Co. Mortuary. He was a classic muscle car enthusiast with a passion for Chevy Impalas. As such, in the State of Oregon Preneed Crematory Sales and Services are conducted under the trade name Neptune Cremation Service. One witness, Heath Dykes, testified to having a relationship with Grinstead while his was married. Brooke says she kept encouraging Bo to open up to talk about this dark subject that was destroying him. Duke also admitted to taking her purse and keys and leaving a glove at the residence. The morning started with testimony from Bill Barrs with the Ocilla Police Department, who was tasked with checking Grinsteads home. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The jury was left to decide if they believed what Ryan said in 2017, or his new version of events. According to it, he broke into Taras house to steal money to buy drugs but was surprised by her when she suddenly came home. the judge said. An Irwin County Probate judge declared Grinstead dead in absentia in December 2010. In Ryan's interview with the GBI, he said he had hit Tara, but Bo said Ryan told him otherwise: BO DUKES [GBI interview]: He jumped on her, while he was she was in bed and strangled her right there in her bed. Dukes attorneys have said he made a false confession under the influence of drugs. He eventually went to court in 2022, with the central defense being hed given a false confession in 2017, partially owing to the fact he was afraid of his former friend Bo. We know who did," defense attorney John Merchant said. It may take up to 1 hour for your comment to appear on the website. Now, it was Brooke's turn to be tormented by a terrible secret. There are reports of him being put under suicide watch a few times, yet nothing too serious came out of the incidents. My deepest condolences to my church family, may God give you all the strength and peace during your time of sorrow. He graduated from Aiken High School in 1968 and was a . Jurors also heard voicemails left in the home. Jannis Paulk: So, I sat down with an agent and we just went through everything. They found him guilty of one charge: concealing Grinstead's death. A jury found Ryan Duke not guilty of murder but guilty of concealing her body. The state focused on Ryan Duke's 2017 recorded confession to GBI agents. A date was set to start Ryan Dukes trial, but a hitch came when his lawyers filed an emergency appeal to halt it. It was in 2017 when Bo Dukes came out about his involvement in the case and even pointed the finger at Ryan. However, his lawyers, who are working pro-bono, claimed that even in that situation, he should get his due of the funds to ensure a fair trial. A native and lifelong resident of Aiken, Ryan was a son of the late Kenneth Michael Dukes and Vicki Heilig Dukes. Brooke Sheridan: We actually met on Tinder. Read More Published In Last Name "Dixon". Jannis Paulk [emotional]: It just brings up a lot. Ryan Duke, now clean-shaven and looking very different from his 2017 arrest, took the stand. In addition to his parents, Ryan was preceded in death by his brother, Kenneth Jason Dukes, paternal grandfather, E. Kenneth Dukes; maternal grandparents, David Leon and Mamie Rae Lundsford Heilig and an aunt, Cindy Dukes Darr. A native of Concord, NC, Vicki was a daughter of the late David Leon and Mamie Rae. As Jannis recalls, early on, suspicion focused on the men in Tara's life. . AIKEN, SC - MICHAEL RYAN DUKES, 43, died April 26, 2018. Prosecutors do not expect to file murder charges against Bo Dukes. The funeral will follow at 11 oclock in the chapel with The Rev. A DNA sample from Ryan Duke was a perfect match. AIKEN, SC - MICHAEL RYAN DUKES, 43, died April 26, 2018. "Its a portion of the human cranium. Tillitski testified that Duke was sleep-deprived and there were drugs in his system when he confessed in 2017. Ryan Duke's murder trial was scheduled to start Oct 4 in Irwin County, Georgia, but lawyers in the case met with Judge Bill Reinhardt Wednesday and agreed to delay the case due to rising COVID-19 numbers. Peter Van Sant: Why do you think investigators ignored you? Ryan Duke Trial Day 7 Recap. The state argues in 2017 Duke was swabbed, and his DNA positively matched that found on the glove. My condolences to the family. Produced by Alec Sirken and Lauren Clark. In 2017, Brooke Sheridan came forward to the GBI saying that her boyfriend, Bo Dukes, told her that he had helped his friend, Ryan Duke, cover up Tara Grinstead's murder. John McCullough: I have no idea. Peter Van Sant: And what is it about him that you love? She says the lawyers discussed pushing the trial into next March, but Judge Reinhardt hasn't signed an order confirming that. Survivors include his grandmother, Vera Ballentine Dukes; aunts, Cheri McGee (Wayne), Debbie Wallace (David), all of Aiken, Linda Tinney (Mel), Pepin, WI, Pamela Clark (Rick), Ridgeville, SC; uncle, Jeff Dukes (Debbie), Aiken. Year after year passed with no arrests. Maria Woods Harper: They've had a really hard time. Maria Woods Harber: She was charismatic, determined, a beautiful personality. Marcus always maintained his innocence but remained under suspicion. Zion Baptist Church, 1012 Adams St. View the obituary at www.BEBrownCo.com. Browning had been the last . Visit our Support Center. Just weeks after Tara vanished at a party in a pecan orchard, one of Jannis Paulk's employees told her that he had overheard two young men tell a disturbing story. However, we had a glove, a latex glove that we couldn't explain. That boyfriend was Marcus Harper, a former cop from Ocilla. And then, an important discovery. Marcus Harper: I was swabbed for DNA. The case generated hundreds of tips over the years. Sympathy Ideas. But who would want to harm this vibrant 30-year-old woman? I definitely didn't wanna settle down in small town America. He said Bo Dukes admitted to killing her. Sending condolences & deepest condolences to the Dukes Family. The two who were friends had similar sounding names but weren't related. Jannis, who ran a local web design company, became an expert on the case keeping a close watch since Tara was reported missing. Browse Troy local obituaries on Legacy.com. Bo told Brooke that Ryan stole his pickup truck that night and used it to transport Tara's body to a remote part of a pecan orchard farmed by Bo's family. John McCullough: He had told me that his friend accidentally strangled her and he needed help getting rid of the body so that way there was nothing to find. I ran. Peter Van Sant: Was it an emotional moment for you to realize someone had been arrested after all that time? His former roommate and close friend was Ryan Duke. At one. The day after Bo's confession, his one-time friend Ryan Duke was arrested. Updated on: May 24, 2022 / 10:33 AM It turned out that he had completed his education from the Irwin County High School, which is where Tara used to work, three years before she went missing, and they might have come in contact there. Dr. Fred W. Andrea III officiating. Ryan admitted he was asked by Bo to help dispose of Tara's body in the orchard and moved her to the burn pile. Over the past 47+ years, our experienced team has assisted families, their loved ones, and caregivers in carrying out final wishes more affordably, with dignity and respect. Sign the Guest Book. But the prosecution said they hard evidence: audio and video of Ryan confessing to killing Tara, when he spoke to the GBI back in 2017. I mean, she had the biggest smile. . Ways to honor John Dukes's life and legacy. Marcus was often overseas, and though they had broken up by the fall of 2005, friends say Tara was distraught about the relationship ending. Since then, Duke's trial has been moved back several times. On March 1, 1969, he met Sandra Hageman on a . Ryan Duke testified he "passed out" after a night of drinking before Tara Grinstead allegedly died. "Over the course of the last three weeks reliving this heinous act that Ryan Alexander Duke committed ripped open the wounds," Gattis told the court before calling Duke "evil," "sneaky dangerous," and a "vile human. John McCullough: I'm glad somebody's finally listening. so, I talk to him, tell him everything I know. Outside, in front of Tara's house, authorities found something that didn't seem to belong a latex glove. He went looking for her the night she disappeared and sparked the search for the woman when he alerted authorities the next day. The defense argued that Ryan's former best friend, Bo Dukes, was the man responsible for Grinstead's death throughout the trial. The funeral will follow at 11 oclock in the chapel with The Rev. And the reason he knew she wasn't coming back, is because he had put load after load of wood on her body and burned her. Maria Woods Harber: She's been an inspiration. Bo Dukes who years earlier had sat in Tara Grinstead's class was arrested and charged not with murder, but with concealing a death, hindering the apprehension of a criminal, and lying to investigators. They've lived so many years without being punished. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to Aiken SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare (www.letlovelive.org) or the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org). Investigators say Ryan confessed to killing Grinstead. Then, more than 11 years after Tara disappeared, Brooke Sheridan came out of nowhere with her account about not only Bo Dukes but his friend Ryan Duke. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Two years later, in March 2019, Bo was the first to go on trial. He was a graduate of Aiken High School and received his bachelors degree from USC Aiken. The trial comes after Bo Dukes, a high school friend of Ryan Duke, was convicted of concealing Grinstead's death, which led investigators to Ryan Duke. "I was stealing from her purse and she snuck up on me. It was an opening like that. Create an obituary. Neptune Society is the largest provider of affordable cremation services in the nation. Expand the Memories and Condolences form. In an interview with the GBI, Bo Dukes said he was ready to end the secret he had kept for years, and went into detail. Sign up for service and obituary updates. Brooke Sheridan [emotional]: I kept thinking about her family and I couldn't sleep at night. And he asked me to help him get rid of her body. The defense had previously asked the judge to dismiss the case, an action that was quickly declined. Yet hes still facing outstanding concealment charges in a neighboring Georgia county where Taras body had been burned. Defense appeals delayed Ryan Dukes trial since the original 2019 start date. Ryan was thus sentenced to 10 years behind bars, which he currently seems to be serving. May the holy spirit comfort you in this time of bereavement. Shaheen Tokhi and David Dow are the associate producers. Tara Faye Grinstead was the youngest child of Bill and Faye Grinstead, born in 1974. Ryan Dukes Aiken, - MICHAEL RYAN DUKES, 43, died April 26, 2018. Dukes invited McCullough to Ocilla to spend Christmas with his family. Two months later, in February 2007, McCullough says he called three police departments in Georgia including Ocilla, where he left a voice message saying: John McCullough: "This is John McCullough. 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