WILCOX COUNTY, Ga. — A jury has been selected in the high-profile Tara Grinstead murder trial. It comes after more than 13 years have passed since the South Georgia teacher and former beauty queen was seen alive.
Two men are accused in her death.
Eight women and seven men make up the jury, including three alternates. Nearly 100 potential jurors were questioned in this well-known case.
Tara Faye Grinstead disappeared Oct. 22, 2005, after attending a cookout with friends. The 30-year-old was reported missing two days later when she didn’t show up to teach history at Irwin County High School. Despite a massive search — and billboards with Grinstead’s photo along I-75 — investigators admittedly had few clues as to her whereabouts.
READ MORE: Man arrested in connection with 2005 disappearance of Georgia teacher]
The case went cold until February 2017, when a tipster contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
A former student, Ryan Alexander Duke, admitted he’d killed Grinstead, according to the GBI. Duke was charged with her murder. Then, a few days later, a second suspect was arrested. Bo Dukes, who wasn’t related to Duke but was a former friend, was accused of helping conceal Grinstead’s body and lying to investigators about his involvement.
Now, the two suspects have trials scheduled two weeks apart. Dukes, currently jailed on a separate case, will be the first to stand trial Monday.
[ [READ MORE: Bo Dukes, charged in Tara Grinstead case, in custody after 5-day manhunt, police say] ]
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JURY SELECTION:
Ninety-one potential jurors spent the morning answering a range of questions as Wilcox County Judge Robert Chasteen and lawyers tried to pick 12 residents to hear the case. Channel 2 Action News is not revealing any information about the jurors per order of the court.
The first question about if any of the potential jurors were related to Dukes knocked two potential jurors out of the pool. A third left after expressing that they had already formed an opinion on Dukes.
Dukes sat in the courtroom quietly while the judge interacted with jurors Monday. This is the first of two cases to go to trial.
BACKGROUND:
Dukes was indicted Aug. 28, 2017, by a Wilcox County grand jury on two counts of making a false statement, one count of hindering the apprehension of a criminal and one count of concealing the death of another.
He faces similar charges in Ben Hill County. Investigators believe that after Duke killed Grinstead, the two men burned her body for several days at a pecan farm.
[READ: Who is Tara Grinstead?]
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Despite his prior confession, Duke now claims he did not kill Grinstead and says it was instead Dukes.
Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant argued during a February bond hearing that prosecutors had little evidence that Duke killed Grinstead.
“All they’ve got is an inconsistent statement from someone who was under the influence of drugs,” Merchant said.
Duke’s trial, to be held in Irwin County, is scheduled for April 1.
Information from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was used in this report.