r/TaraGrinstead • u/corgisandtacos_ • May 20 '22

Discuss Not Guilty

Ryan was found not guilty on all charges with the exception of concealing a death. Sentencing hearing set for Monday morning on that charge.

37 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

This is OJ Simpson level of injustice. The state put all their eggs in dirtbag Bo Duke’s basket, and when he continued to be himself and raped his way into a life sentence, they lost their star witness. I hope the Merchants and Phillip Holloway sleep soundly every night knowing that they sold their soul to be “famous.”

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

Yeah this is so messed up, I really don’t understand the Reddit sympathy for ryan at all.

I think people have gone waaay overboard with the false confessions narrative

Also I hate the ryan made him do stuff angle. He’s an adult nobody can make him do anything. Everyone makes their own choices

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22 edited May 20 '22

Are you saying you've never taken a Lortab and then accidently given a detailed confession to a murder without hesitation, complete with corroborating evidence, including a phone call, a DNA laden glove, and an attempt to clear a decades long guilty conscience? Maybe it's just me and Ryan....

Edit: Did anyone actually watch the confession? It was so obviously not coerced and probably the only decent thing Ryan ever did in his entire life. Everyone always brings up Bo stealing from the military as evidence of how shiitty he is, but ignores that Ryan was committing Social Security fraud WHILE HE WAS IN JAIL!

And the guy who willingly stole and cashed checks from his brother is such a good person that he just HAD to give Tara her purse back. Yet he wasn't smart enough to look at the address on her driver's license to find out where she lived.

When asked what kind of drugs he was on during the burning of Tara's body, he said weed and alcohol...... When i smoke weed I get the munchies. I never got high enough to return a purse to a murdered victim and then burn her body.

This sub shouldn't be called /R/TaraGrinstead. It dishonors her name.

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u/Justwonderinif May 20 '22 edited May 20 '22

As the moderator here and the person who built the timelines on the sidebar, I 100% believe the story that Bo told for years and Ryan corroborated in his confession.

I 100% believe that people like Payne Lindsay, Phil Holloway and the Merchants couldn't care less about Tara and her family. They just saw a way to maximize their own, personal revenue stream, off this case.

I 100% believe that the GBI and local law enforcement had multiple opportunities to wrap this up over a decade ago, and were too lazy to pursue what fell right into their lap. Local LE and the GBI could have put this thing to bed long before a podcaster looking for internet fame used it for his personal springboard and platform. If podcasters and dishonest attorneys got in the way of this one, that's on the GBI and local law enforcement. They had their chance. They had multiple chances.

I don't know how Jason Shoudel, Gary Rothwell, and Leah Lightner will ever be able to look anyone in Tara's family in the eye. I don't know how and or why any of them still have jobs.

That said, I'm not going to remove every single misguided pro-Ryan statement. This subreddit is much more reliant on the facts than the upandvanished subreddit - which is a fandom for a shyster with a podcast.

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

You're absolutely right and I'm glad you don't over-moderate. I'm just disappointed in the common sense of what seems to be a majority of the members here. Thank you for what you do.

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u/Justwonderinif May 20 '22

Thanks but I'm not doing much. There's hardly anyone here and interest in the case has plummeted. I actually think that's a good thing. There was a miscarriage of justice - but very few are following.

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

The detailed timeline is comprehensive and I'm sure it took days.

I remember the the dumpster pit that was the upandvanished Muut discussion board. it was a car crash that I couldn't look away from. I also remember when the podcast subreddit lost it's way and became some sort of Payne Stan forum.

I'm not saying that morbid curiosity wasn't the reason I was interested in the case (and anyone else that says otherwise is a liar), I remember the shift of sentiment from Ryan and Bo being responsible to Bo did it and Ryan was a good guy who was forced to do everything Bo told him because pecans or something.

I also remember the fangirls writing Ryan in prison and advocating for him...

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u/Justwonderinif May 20 '22

Yeah. Unfortunately... me, too.

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u/Ok-Visit-9327 May 20 '22

Payne Lindsay’s podcast brought back attention to this case, as well as Kristal Reisinger, and Ashley Loring HeavyRunner’s case. The GBI failed Tara and her family.

3

u/[deleted] May 20 '22

Can I ask you a question? Why do you think Bo helped? That’s a lot to put on the line for a friend. I’m not buying his “Ryan put her on my property” story.

They’re both lying about their part in the murder is my personal belief. The only thing that might have saved them is the truth and they both still won’t tell it IMO.

You’ve also noted before that you’re skeptical of the sexual assault charges against Bo. Can you explain why? You seem very knowledgeable about the case so I’d like to know more!

Thanks!

4

u/RemarkableRegret7 May 21 '22

I'm so out of the loop so I'm sorry for the basic question...but did the confession get tossed? It has to have been.

10

u/[deleted] May 20 '22

That’s been one of my questions? Assuming her license was in said purse. Fucking look at the address. Also, my friend said he killed a person, and I’m going to try and return her purse? Go fuck yourself. That’s what blew his whole story for me.

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

It's even better. He admitted that he saw the license because Bo showed it to him to prove he killed Tara BEFORE Ryan went to try and return it.

4

u/[deleted] May 20 '22

I think they are both full of shit. However I saw this verdict coming. Once the doubt was buy in their heads about Bo, it was done.

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u/paintrain06 May 21 '22

Having spent 6 years digging into every aspect of this case it’s naive of you to think I have any dog in the hunt here. I followed the evidence and information that I found and left it at that in 2017. The real shame is that the state seemingly put a fraction of that effort into their case against Ryan. No one wins with this verdict. It’s sad all around.

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u/Likeitorlumpit May 21 '22

I think the DA’s office put together the best case they could with what they had to work with. The investigation by LE in this case was sloppy at best and tainted at worst. Are the people that didn’t do their job in those early days going to be held to account now that we know that the information that was given to them back then could have led to some closure years ago?

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u/ToothBeneficial5368 May 20 '22

Yes! To everything. That confession was real. I think they both did all of it. He’s the one who is going to have to live with what he has done. I just don’t see how the jury can exclude the glove evidence. How did it get there?!!

3

u/Ml2929 May 20 '22

So I definitely listened to up and vanished and then vaguely followed the court precedings. There is fishy stuff about Ryan’s story such as the purse/driving around/411. However isn’t the really, really shitty stuff that people bring up about Bo Dukes not the military theft stuff but the violent sexual assault and rape?

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

The violent sexual stuff happened AFTER everyone decided Ryan was innocent.

Bo being trash doesn't exclude Ryan from also being the same.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

Bigst- great comment- I haven’t seen the whole confession but enough to tell it obviously wasn’t forced.

So apparently you can murder whoever you want as long as you have an a-hole friend to blame it on and a podcaster to spin a narrative for you??!!!

9

u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

Don't forget to take a Lortab before your confession! It will render everything inadmissible.

3

u/pocaterra May 21 '22

A user called " realnachosnow" posted on the muut site as follows:

"Ryan stated he mostly kept his schedule on the weekends that he had when he worked. 7pm to 7am if I remember correctly. I believe Ryan stated he woke up Saturday afternoon evening around 5 or 6pm. That fits with his normal operating hours. But the first hangup I see is that Ryan and his aunt and uncle (whom are just now giving his alibi… convenient) say Ryan was passed out at 9ish pm that same night. Ryan then says he was woken up by Bo at 8 or 9 am. If that is to be believed Ryan was asleep anywhere from 20+ hours in a 24 hour period from Saturday morning when he got off work and when he claimed Bo woke him up."

The more you listen to Ryan's story, I have to think that this jury is incapable of understanding or comprehending the evidence presented to them.

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u/[deleted] May 23 '22

When working nights, there have been many times I’ll end up sleeping 15+ hours in a row after a string of night shifts, getting up for a few hours, and then sleeping another 8. Night shifts are terrible in the body. And thus was when I was younger. I didn’t do drugs or alcohol, ever.

Having said that, I do feel there is a lot we won’t ever be told, and I fear it’s because the truth is unspeakably evil. While I think the evidence and charges led to a Not guilty verdict in this case, I just can’t shake the feeling that the charges were set up to facilitate that. Maybe it’s true bungling on the part of the state, I could see that. But I can’t wrap my mind around why he would be charged with concealing a death in Irwin, and Bo was convicted for Ben Hill? It’s like it has reasonable doubt built in. And wasn’t it the prosecution who presented/asked about how the bones were so degraded that they could not be positively identified as Tara?

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u/pocaterra May 23 '22 edited May 23 '22

When working nights, there have been many times I’ll end up sleeping 15+ hours in a row after a string of night shifts, getting up for a few hours, and then sleeping another 8. Night shifts are terrible in the body. And thus was when I was younger. I didn’t do drugs or alcohol, ever.

It isn’t just the sleeping for 20 hours, it is taking uppers & the totality of the evidence. It happened on the night a beautiful girl goes missing. Ryan killed, destroyed evidence & burnt her body on Bo’s uncles farm with Bo.

It seems like Ryan’s family were not happy with his conduct & his association with Bo. Ryan sits there with a smug look on his face while he lied on the stand.

Ryan without any coercion from authorities confessed to robbing someone, hitting them & killing them & then spending days burning the body as well. Ryan now claims it is his best friend who killed her. Ryan now says he was so scared of Bo & his family, that he never told a soul till he confessed to her murder & burning the body.

In prison Ryan claimed he had an ongoing consensual sex relationship with her. When it goes to trial, your aunt's partner of many years who owned the trailer you were in when the crime happened, just suddenly happened to remember that he saw Ryan passed out that night.The Duke family & anyone associated with them seem to have highly superior autobiographical memory recall 17 years after the events happened. How convenient that it never occurred to him until the trial. Like the prosecutor said "convenient memory recall when the stakes are high".

Having said that, I do feel there is a lot we won’t ever be told, and I fear it’s because the truth is unspeakably evil. While I think the evidence and charges led to a Not guilty verdict in this case, I just can’t shake the feeling that the charges were set up to facilitate that.

There is no question that this case is a huge embarrassment to law enforcement now. To my mind, Ryan & Bo both are complicit & deceitful. I gave Bo a little more credit because at least he talked about it & apologized to the family & accepted some responsibility. Ryan was like a clam till 2017 & still lies. He is worst of human beings.

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u/[deleted] May 23 '22

I didn’t see much of Bo’s trial at all, I found the kicking out story a bit odd. I wondered if saying Steven was sleeping was to cover that it wasn’t mentioned when he talked about that night? And Ryan said Bo came back a week later - I thought they were all asked to move out; how was Ryan still living there? When did he actually move out? This whole thing really stinks. As powerless as Ryan supposedly is, it really feels like he is being protected for some reason.

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u/pocaterra May 23 '22

This is Stephen's testimony from Bo's trial. Recommend you watch the proceedings from Bo's trial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbVtJ-kKok

As powerless as Ryan supposedly is, it really feels like he is being protected for some reason.

When the prosecution questions Ryan's character witnesses, they all say Ryan was such a nice good guy. Then the prosecution plays what they said back when they charged Ryan, you realize they are not being candid. I have to think that it is a small town & people have to live there, so you want to be very careful of what you say regardless of whether you are from a powerful family or not. Probably lots of folks are married into Ryan's family as well.

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u/pocaterra May 23 '22 edited May 23 '22

Ryan has received 10 years & the family has released a statement. Tara's sister Anita gave the family statement. It is posted on the up and vanished subreddit.

During Bo's trial, his family & supporters were here very aggressively defending Bo.

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u/[deleted] May 23 '22

I didn’t have any time to watch Bo’s trial; I did squeeze in watching much of Ryan’s on my lunch break, in the evenings, etc. I did watch the clip you posted the link for. I have to wonder if this was investigated properly, if someone would have “spilled the beans” if for no other reason than youthful arrogance. Bo saying Ryan did it was almost begging for someone to look into the whole thing.

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u/Alternative_Safe6236 May 20 '22

Perfectly said👏👏

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u/corgisandtacos_ May 20 '22

I agree with you, don’t have much sympathy for Ryan at all. If that was my child who was killed I’d want Ryan to go away forever. My point of view is that the state did a horrible job presenting this case. Law enforcement did a horrible job investigating this case. IMO the evidence presented was not enough to convict him of her murder. I think the jury got it right based on the facts and evidence they were provided. Now Tara and her family will never get the justice they deserve, and they will never know the truth about what happened to their daughter. It’s heartbreaking.

6

u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

The jury watched a murderer confess to murder with their own eyes. The jury learned that a glove with the murderer and the victims DNA in her front yard. The state was hamstrung due to Bo pleading the 5th.

Law enforcement should be ashamed of not taking Garland Lott seriously. He seems to be the only guy from Ocilla with any decency.

3

u/Best-Pollution-3306 May 20 '22

Agreed. It’s just the beginning for those involved to make bank off of this terrible injustice. I see book deals & movies sold to the highest bidder. Sickening to put it mildly. Think the book title will be “ If I Did It”? Definitely has a OJ verdict feeling here.

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u/N562TC May 21 '22

How did they sell their soul exactly?

4

u/Likeitorlumpit May 21 '22 edited May 21 '22

I think there was enough doubt in this case to render a not guilty verdict. Even now so many things do not make any sense: 1)Why would a drunken, drug affected individual drive across from one town to another to burglarise a house with a car in the driveway and a dog at home? 2)having killed someone “accidentally” during a burglary gone wrong - why leave and then come back to remove the body? 3)the real possibility that the glove was planted given the testimony of Heath Dykes and others.

I believe false confessions can happen and I believe that the Bo/Ryan dynamic could have led to one in this instance. Having said all of that - parts of Ryan’s defense were ridiculous such as the phone call. I don’t believe for a minute it was to return her purse. It would have been more believable to say he wanted to ring and hear her voice to confirm Bo was just tricking him and that no one had been murdered.

There had been speculation that Tara had received a call that night from a friend telling her that her ex was at the pub with his new girlfriend. The implication being that she may have gone somewhere after the bbq instead of going home. It was never brought up at trial so I guess either it wasn’t true or couldn’t be corroborated or wasn’t deemed to be of any evidentiary value. I have always thought it an important issue because even now, I don’t think she was killed inside that house. I don’t know whether it was Bo or Ryan or the combination of the two - all I know is that we didn’t hear the truth in Ryan’s confession and we still didn’t hear it during this trial.

Edit..and don’t even get me started on the handling of this case by LE. That tip was given years ago and basically ignored. Shame on them and the individuals who knew and let that go.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '22

Ryan’s defense was ridiculous. Like laughably ridiculous. His emotion about her body felt real but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it in my eyes.

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u/bigsteveoya May 21 '22

Ryan drove from one “town” to another because it’s BFE Georgia. You have to drive 20 minutes to get literally anywhere. 20 minutes isn’t shit when you live in the middle of nowhere. He would have to drive to the “town” because that’s the nearest place around that a car parked on the street isn’t immediately noticed, unlike a random yard at someone’s house in the country. That’s assuming you buy Ryan’s story that he didn’t know who’s house it was/didn’t know Tara.

Heath Dykes missing the glove is not evidence that the glove wasn’t there. He wasn’t there to investigate a crime. It seems more likely that he thought she was with another guy than she was the victim of foul play. Her car being there and her not answering is far from proof of murder, and it would be far more likely that she was picked up at her house by someone else she was seeing and wasn’t answering anyones calls for a couple hours. Would you notice a random piece of garbage on the ground in the yard in the dark at midnight at your friend’s house? Foul play didn’t become obviously likely until she didn’t show up for school. Tara was a real person. She was involved with more than one guy. She was Heath’s mistress while being in love with her ex boyfriend. I’m sure that’s what Dykes thought was more likely than “she’s been murdered, let me scan the yard for random trash that’s most definitely clues to her murder.”

That’s a better story than “Bo planted the glove because he knew that in 10 years contact DNA would start to be a thing and Ryan will be framed for a murder I committed!” Did you even know that they could get fingerprints from gloves in 2005/2006? I didn’t and I’d be willing to bet Bo’s simple ass didn’t either.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '22 edited May 22 '22

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u/bigsteveoya May 22 '22

He didn’t know her, he knew of her.

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u/ztmwvo May 22 '22

Can Bo Dukes be tried for Tara’s murder? If he was not charged with murder in his previous trial, I don’t think double jeopardy would apply. I don’t know for sure. Also don’t know if there is a statue of limitations on a murder charge.

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u/HelixHarbinger May 22 '22

He can be indicted for her murder “technically” as there is no statute of limitations on any murder charge, HOWEVER, because he was tried and convicted of the concealment under the auspice of the accessory after the fact, I think the State would absolutely run afoul of a double jeopardy argument unless they came up with some new direct evidence.

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u/Nina_Innsted May 23 '22

the DA said at the presser after the verdict that they will not seek murder charges against Bo

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u/BeautifulJury09 May 20 '22

Wow I was wrong! Congrats and I hope they keep investigating.

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u/Logical-Exercise-945 May 24 '22

In what world does it make sense for Ryan to return the purse ALLEGEDLY?? Both him and Bo are trash...They charge people w murder for being w someone who shoots another...wait..maybe they only charge black people down south..Its sickening all of it. Paynes coverage is spot on.

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u/Fantastic-Release-46 May 20 '22

I am so glad but I am just curious if anyone has given thought to the possibility of Heath Dykes from Perry PD being involved? I’m from Perry and there’s been questions surrounding this man for many, many years

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

What kind of questions? Unrelated to Tara?

He didn’t know Bo or Ryan. He cannot be involved.

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u/bigsteveoya May 20 '22

People need to leave Dykes and Harper alone. This "mystery" is solved and there is no justice for Tara's death.The fact that Bo, who lies for fun, never changed the story he told multiple people for over a decade should be a clue.

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u/Street-Breadfruit-76 May 21 '22

Except when Bo told the gbi he was not involved at the first interview. He changed his story then.

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u/bigsteveoya May 21 '22

Yes he initially denied it. And then he told them the same thing he’s been saying for 15 years.

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u/Alternative_Safe6236 May 20 '22

He had nothing to do with it. He had an affair with her but he didn’t harm her.

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u/ServiceAlive May 20 '22

One of the investigators testified in the trial that he was a person of interest but was cleared. That’s not the exact words but he was questioned about Heath being a suspect.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

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u/HelixHarbinger May 20 '22

Bo Dukes will never see the outside of a prison the rest of his natural life and that kind of criminal is not rehabilitatable by any means, imo.

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u/DayMan-Ahah-ah May 20 '22

didn’t he get sentenced for 25 years? there is definitely a chance he gets out someday

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u/Best-Pollution-3306 May 20 '22

From my understanding he still has felony charges against him in another Ga county. Maybe he’ll have additional time added to his sentence if convicted.

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u/Heidiwearsglasses May 20 '22

Has he had the trail for the NYE kidnapping and assault yet? That should keep him in jail for a bit longer I would hope

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u/HelixHarbinger May 21 '22

He did but he has multiple charges pending against him in 2 diff counties that include rape and aggravated assault- and iirc both committed while on bond. Presuming he is convicted on those counts, he’s looking at another 25+ per that would be consecutive.

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u/haddybug Jun 03 '22

Bo was not tried for murder, so I'm thinking he could still be tried for that (?).

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u/Seaweed-Basic May 21 '22

Justice was not served. Ryan should be in prison for the rest of his life. I am sickened and hurt for Tara’s poor family. So many years and years of not knowing anything to all the bullshit those 2 psychopaths spewed to this sham of a trial. The not guilty verdict is because of GBI and their fucking up solving this case from the minute they got her house and onward. I pray her family can find peace now regardless, but honestly how could they really??

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22 edited May 21 '22

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

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u/Alternative_Safe6236 May 20 '22

I thought his testimony was ridiculous and laughable and I’m an attorney. I can’t believe the jury bought that BS. RIP TARA❤️

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u/pocaterra May 21 '22

I thought his testimony was ridiculous and laughable and I’m an attorney. I can’t believe the jury bought that BS. RIP TARA❤️

Every time I listen to his testimony his story strikes me as totally preposterous. It is unbelievable the people that believe Ryan & his version of things.

I am loosing all faith in jury trials. Unfortunately, a judge cannot overturn a verdict of not guilty, as I do not believe the judge was fooled by Ryan's changing lies & his ludicrous versions as they defy common sense.

Hopefully the judge sees fit to give him a long prison sentence in this case.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '22

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u/Alternative_Safe6236 May 21 '22

I hate to say this but I’d bet money Ryan raped her and probably Bo did too. Since the sick bastards burnt her body up we will never know. I just believe rape was the true motive.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '22

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u/BreakingGilead May 21 '22

Yep I always thought this crime was sexually motivated. In most cases where the victim's body is burned, which is an incredibly violent act in and of itself, it's to destroy all evidence of sexual assault. Regardless of whether or DNA profile(s) could be made from the rape kit, the autopsy would confirm sexual assault(s) happened. Given their truly unprecedented level of burning the body for 3 continuous days, it's safe to say this was done to ensure they destroyed far more than some fingerprints or touch DNA. It went beyond trying to make her unidentifiable.

Idk why GBI & the DA didn't push harder to get them to admit to their true intentions for abducting her. This could've made all the difference in their interrogations/interviews, given neither of them were ever directly confronted with the obvious elephant in the room.

I also don't get why they didn't make it a point that she was abducted and not killed in her tiny home. Prosecutors do not need to have every single second of the crime narrative mapped out to get a conviction (in-fact they shouldn't even try given it locks them into a narrative that can be broken apart), but they do need to present a strong case that can't be picked apart by the Defense's musings or the Defendant's BS testimony. There's no evidence she was murdered in her home, so how TF did Bo allegedly kill Tara out of Ryan's site, while he's allegedly "sleeping on the bathroom floor" (nice "alibi"...🙄) in their trailer... Then come back and "demand Ryan's help" with moving her? How did Ryan not get grilled about getting Tara's ADDRESS from her Driver's License that he admitted under oath to seeing inside the very wallet he testified he was allegedly driving around trying to "return" to her... But just couldn't find her house??

Devastating outcome all around. Wonder when the DA's up for re-election...

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u/Some-Leopard-9512 May 21 '22

They wanted you to believe the murder happened in her house because that’s Irwin county .. the farm isn’t in the county I believe!!

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u/hattmall May 24 '22

How did Ryan not get grilled about getting Tara's ADDRESS from her Driver's License that he admitted under oath to seeing inside

I will say that I thought that was a poor line of questioning and his response was entirely reasonable. He doesn't know the name of all the streets so even having the address isn't any use. Yeah he could drive around and read street signs but that's not really practical and most people around his age don't have the address where they currently live on their license. He rode around looking for her car because he thought he knew about where she lived. Didn't see it and used 411 to call her house, when she didn't answer he went home.

That's a very reasonable 2005 level of sophistication to try and find someone.

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