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Man charged with killing couple who sought classic Mustang

Ronnie Towns was linked to Bud and June Runion of Marietta, Ga., by cellphone records, the Telfar County sheriff said.

By Frances Burns

MCRAE, Ga., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A young man from a "good family" in a small Georgia town has been charged with killing a couple after luring them to the area with an offer of a 1966 Mustang.

Ronnie Jay Towns, 28, of McRae is being held without bail on charges of murder and armed robbery. He denied committing the crime during a hearing late Tuesday before a magistrate in Telfair County.

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"I didn't do it," Towns said softly as he was brought into the courtroom.

Authorities say Towns responded to an ad Bud Runion, 69, and his wife, June, 66, had placed on Craigslist, although he did not have a Mustang to sell. The couple's daughter said her father wanted a convertible like the one he owned after he returned to the United States from Vietnam.

The couple's GMC Envoy was found in a lake outside of McRae and their bodies were in a wooded area nearby. Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson said they were both shot with a handgun.

Towns faces other charges, including attempted theft by deception. He was only charged with murder after the bodies were identified.

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Steverson described Towns as coming from a "good family" that is "well-established in McRae, the Telfair County seat in South Georgia. He said Towns has never been arrested but has been questioned in some theft cases.

The sheriff said that cellphone records helped link the Runions to Towns.

The Runions lived in Marietta, near Atlanta and about 200 miles north of McRae. Their daughter said June was a preschool instructor after teaching second-grade for many years and that Bud, a retired telephone company employee, spent much of his time building bicycles for poor children from old parts he collected.

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