Neighbor Mourns Deaths of Craigslist Couple

The alleged murder of a Cobb County couple in south Georgia last week has drawn shock, outrage, and sadness not only from the couple’s friends and family, but from their neighbors as well.

Tom Murphy, who had lived next to the Runions since 2006, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the pair were the ideal neighbors. Murphy told the AJC that Bud Runion would often drop whatever he was doing to help out Murphy or anyone else in need.

An example of this caring attitude was ”Bud’s Bikes,” a charity Bud ran to provide reconditioned or brand new bicycles to boys and girls who normally could not afford them. During the holiday season, the Runion’s front yard would be littered with bikes awaiting repair and delivery to a new, grateful home. Murphy told the AJC that Bud had delivered bikes to kids as far as way as Kentucky and West Virginia.

Murphy said that during the couple’s most recent wedding anniversary, Bud borrowed his pressure washer to spray a heart inscribed with “Bud + June” into the driveway.

The bodies of Bud and June Runion were discovered in a wooded area of Telfair County on Monday, hours after their SUV was found in a nearby body of water. An autopsy revealed that the couple were both shot in the head by a small caliber weapon.

Investigators believe that Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns lured the couple to Telfair County by responding to an ad Bud Runion posted on Craigslist seeking a 1966 Ford Mustang. Instead of making a sale, authorities believe Towns planned to rob Bud of the money he was bringing to supposedly secure his dream car.

Towns was charged with malice murder and armed robbery on Tuesday, and was denied bond by a Telfair County judge.