Ryan Duke, the man accused of killing Tara Grinstead, to stand trial: What to expect
State prosecutors and Duke's defense lawyers have been gearing up for the trial for five years.
'There will be people watching... across the nation'
It could be the final chapter in a 16-year murder mystery when the man accused of killing Tara Grinstead goes on trial May 2.
Ryan Duke faces the penalty of life in prison with parole. He's charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, burglary, and concealing a body.
State prosecutors and Duke's defense lawyers have been gearing up for the trial for five years.
Irwin County Superior Court expects the trial to last a month or more due to the amount of evidence and testimony from both the prosecution and defense. The trial will likely attract the same amount of national attention as Tara Grinstead's disappearance did in 2005.
"There will be people watching, not only here in Georgia and locally, but across the nation," said Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys' Council.
He says that's one reason the court summoned 800 people as possible jurors.
"The case with this magnitude and this time of publicity in a small area, not a large metro area, you want to make sure you have a jury that's not biased and that person hasn't made up his or her mind before he or she sits and hears all the evidence," said Skandalakis.
Evidence in the case dates back 16 years to Oct. 22, 2005 when the Ocilla teacher and beauty queen vanished.
The Tara Grinstead Case: 2005-2022
Since then, investigators have conducted hundreds of interviews and collected pieces of evidence, leading to the largest case file in GBI history. It's also created quite the witness list -- the state says they'll call nearly 90 witnesses, most of them GBI investigators.
Skandalakis says the number of credible experts will be one of the biggest challenges for the defense.
"My experience with the GBI, they're some of the best investigators in the nation, so they're quite professional in their job. They're very detailed in their documentation," he said.
But while time allowed the GBI to build its case, Skandalakis says it could also become the state's biggest hurdle.
"Witnesses don't often recall what they told police five years ago, six years ago, 10 years ago, so you go through this process of refreshing their memory. So, obviously, the longer it takes a case to get to trial, the harder it becomes," he said.
FULL COVERAGE | THE TARA GRINSTEAD CASE:
Two of the most critical pieces of evidence come straight from the accused killer. One of them is DNA on a glove found at Grinstead's home.
"The DNA on the glove is a match to Ryan [Duke]," said GBI Special Agent Jason Shoudel.
The second is Ryan Duke's own confession.
"He says he was the one responsible," said Shoudel.
The GBI says Duke confessed "spontaneously and unsolicited" to agents. Duke and his lawyers will argue he falsely confessed while under the influence of drugs and he actually did not kill Grinstead.
"The jury will have to consider whether or not the statement was freely and voluntarily given, did a person understand what he or she was talking about, did they understand the question, were there responses to the questions? Were they logical responses to the evidence that was asked?" said Skandalakis.
Lindsey Forshee, the Superior Court Administrator for the Tifton Judicial Circuit, says the trial could last four to six weeks. Two of those will be dedicated to selecting a jury. Jury selection is set to begin May 2.
Bo Dukes, the other man connected to the case, was convicted on charges related to Tara Grinstead's death in March 2019. He received the maximum sentence of 25 years for lying to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and concealing Grinstead's death.
Timeline of the Tara Grinstead Case
October 2005:
31-year-old high school teacher and local beauty queen Tara Grinstead goes missing. Her body was never found and no one was charged in the case, but law enforcement continued to chase numerous clues and tips.
2011:
The Irwin County sheriff said he got a tip telling him to search near a bridge on Reedy Creek. He says a dive team and deputies searched for more than four hours and found nothing.
2015:
Law enforcement searched a pond in Ben Hill County but said they didn't find what they were looking for.
February 22, 2017:
GBI agents took Ryan Alexander Duke into custody. Duke was charged on 6 counts, including Grinstead's murder.
GBI holds news conference on Tara Grinstead case
February 28, 2017:
GBI searched a Ben Hill County pecan farm for Grinstead's remains. It was later revealed during Bo Dukes' trial that GBI agents found human bone fragments at the orchard.
February 2017:
An Irwin County judge issued the order barring anyone associated with the case from speaking about it to the media.
March 2017:
A second man, Bo Dukes, was charged with helping conceal Grinstead's body. He and Ryan were high school classmates, and his uncle, Randy Hudson, owned the pecan farm where investigators were searching for Tara.
September 2017:
Bo Dukes was charged with 4 more counts related to the case in Wilcox County.
October 2017:
13WMAZ's lawyers appealed the gag order to the State Supreme Court of Georgia, arguing the media's first amendment rights.
March 2018:
The state supreme court threw the gag order out, but by that time, the GBI had already turned their case file over to all the lawyers involved.
August 2018:
Ryan Duke parted ways with the public defender and secured a new defense team representing him for free.
November 2018:
Duke appeared in an Irwin County courtroom with his new attorneys -- clean-shaven and well-dressed.
December 2018:
A leaked confession hit the internet outlining an alleged 2017 interview between Ryan and the GBI. As investigators worked to figure out who posted it, Ryan's accused accomplice, Bo, was ordered back to federal prison for charges in a separate case, but before turning himself in, he was charged with sexually assaulting two women in Houston County. Considered "armed and dangerous," he led authorities on a four-day manhunt before being taken into custody at a relatives house in Irwin County.
February 2019:
At a bond hearing for Ryan Duke, GBI special agent Jason Shoudel verified that Ryan's DNA was in that glove investigators found outside Tara's home.
March 2019:
Days before Bo Dukes' trial was supposed to start in Wilcox County, an alibi was filed for Ryan. It claimed Ryan was asleep in his trailer when Grinstead was killed.
March 2019:
Bo Dukes' trial in Wilcox County ended in late March, and he was found guilty of concealing Tara Grinstead's death and lying to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He was sentenced to 25 years.
April 2019:
Ryan Duke's trial was supposed to start on April 1 in Irwin County, but at the last minute, the Georgia Supreme Court granted a delay after his defense filed an emergency motion.
May-August 2019:
Ryan Duke and his lawyers would argue for the state to cover funds for an investigator for Ryan. This argument would bounce between Irwin County Superior Court and the state Supreme Court.
September 2019:
The prosecution and defense agreed to have the Georgia Supreme Court hear the argument again, after Irwin County Judge Reinhardt signs a "certificate of immediate review."
October 2019:
A Houston County grand jury indicted Bo Dukes on new charges of rape and sodomy. The indictment alleged that Dukes raped a woman and then forcibly sodomized her at knifepoint on Jan. 19, 2017.
January 2020:
An Irwin County judge ruled again that the state should not pay for private investigators and experts to help Ryan Duke prepare for his trial.
January 2021:
Supreme Court of Georgia says Duke would appeal an Irwin County’s court denial of his request for state funds to pay for expert witnesses and an investigator.
March 2021:
The Georgia Supreme Court issued a decision reversing part of the ruling that would have kept Ryan Duke from using state funds to prepare for trial.
August 2021:
Ryan Duke's murder trial was scheduled to start October 4 in Irwin County, but lawyers in the case met with Judge Bill Reinhardt and agreed to delay the case due to rising COVID-19 numbers.
February 2022:
Pretrial motions hearings were scheduled for March 8 and 9 for Ryan Duke.
May 2, 2022:
Ryan Duke is set to stand trial.