A man from Georgia who admitted to killing a former beauty queen was found not guilty of her murder on Friday, according to local reports.
Although Ryan Duke told local police within 90 seconds of entering the station in 2017 that he had killed high school teacher Tara Grinstead in 2005, the Irwin County Jury acquitted him on Friday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Instead, he was found guilty of concealing her death and sentenced to ten years on Monday, the newspaper said.
Duke said he forged the confession because he was under the influence of drugs and feared his friend Bo Dukes (no relative), whom he claims is the real killer of Greensted, AJC reported.
Duke was arrested for involvement in the case shortly after Duke was arrested in 2017.
Duke, during his confession in 2017, said he broke into Greensted’s home for drug money and when she caught him, he hit her. Authorities also said he knew details of the crime that had not been revealed before.
In his 2017 confession, Ryan Duke claims that he broke into Tara Grinstead’s house for drug money and that she caught him, which made him hit her. Georgia Bureau of Investigation
“I don’t feel I deserve to be free to breathe,” Duke wrote in his 2017 confession, shown on the Law and Crime website. “I can’t begin to understand the pain I caused my family and loved ones.”
When he was on the stand, Duke claimed that Dukes had told him that he had killed Greenstead in October 2005. Dukes admitted that he had helped burn the body, the AJC reported.
As her body was badly burned, only fragments of bones and teeth were found, but not enough to collect DNA, the AJC reported.
Tara Grinstead’s sister says ten years in prison is not enough for Ryan Duke. AP
“Tara lost her life,” said Connie Grinstead, Grinstead’s stepmother, according to the AJC. “And that left a hole in our lives that can never be filled. We will feel the pain of this loss while we are alive. “
Duke, who has already served five years in prison, could receive up to 10 years in connection with the woman’s death.
Greensted’s sister, Anita Gatis, said ten years in prison was not enough for Duke.
“16 years. 6 months and 27 days,” Gatis told the court, which is how long Greensted was absent, according to WMAZ television. “The maximum that can be used to cover up another’s death is 10 years. seven years less than the sentence that me and the rest of Tara’s family and friends served because of his heinous and vicious actions. “
Add Comment