Suspects Bound Over To Grand Jury

Thursday, July 18, 2097

Four adult suspects in the April Lillelid murders were bound over to the Grand Jury Wednesday following their preliminary hearing in a Greene County courtroom. Twenty year old Joseph Risner, nineteen year old Edward Dean Mullins, eighteen year old Natasha Cornett, and eighteen year old Crystal Sturgill were ordered continued held without bond after presiding Judge Kendall Lawson last night said the court had found probable cause to send the cases to the Grand jury. Lawson's ruling came around 8:45 PM, following day long testimony in which nineteen persons took the witness stand

Steve Scott with the TBI Forensic Services Lab in Nashville testified that bullets and fragments recovered from the murder scene, the victims' bodies, and the Lillelid van, matched the .25 caliber automatic and 9 millimeter handgun, which were recovered after the suspects were apprehended. Scott could not identify which suspect might have handled the guns however, saying a request for fingerprint tests on the guns was not initially made by investigators, and by the time it was made, two persons with the TBI lab had already handled the weapons.

Attorneys for the defendants are expected to be back in court on September 2nd, which, according to the Circuit Court Clerk, is the next appearance and arraignment date for Criminal Court. A definite Grand Jury date to consider the case has not yet been set.