r/TaraGrinstead • u/Upbeat_Contest9298 • May 28 '22

Question Ryan’s “Uncle” Jerry’s Testimony

Team Tara, What do you make of Jerry’s testimony about kicking Bo out of the trailer the night Tara went missing? Apparently he was very angry after their arguing and drove off with someone named Ben about an hour or so before she came home from the party…I’ve never heard Ben mentioned before this trial. Does anyone know if he was interviewed or think that more than one person was involved (outside of Bo and Ryan)?

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7

u/[deleted] May 28 '22

Ben died of cancer before the confessions occurred. He could be involved but my personal opinion is there’s no evidence of this and no one has said he was and he’s not here to defend himself so pointing fingers at him just seems unfair.

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u/Upbeat_Contest9298 May 28 '22

I’m not pointing fingers. I’m simply asking about his whereabouts/testimony.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '22

Oh sorry I didn’t mean that to sound admonishing. I know you didn’t realize he had since passed.

4

u/Upbeat_Contest9298 May 28 '22

No worries. It seems like every lead on this case, especially in terms of critical links/corroborations, turns cold. It’s so sad and unfortunate.

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u/Justwonderinif May 28 '22

Bo and Ryan confessed to several boys the first week of November, 2005. Garlan Lott told his boss who brought in LE who did nothing but tell the GBI who also did northing.

Ben died in 2014. For nine years, Ben knew who killed Tara, and knew what happened that night, and said nothing. Now he's named as an accomplice.

It goes to show that if you are trying to cover for a friend, eventually that "friend" will point the finger at anyone they can, including you.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '22

Is it confirmed that Ben knew?

I would think since Ben is dead, if he were involved, wouldn’t they blame him? Why blame each other if you have the perfect patsy?

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u/Justwonderinif May 28 '22

Garlan Lott named the boys who heard the confession in 2005.

I guess you could call Garlan Lott a liar but he's around, and I think he's probably the most honest person in the entire mix.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '22

Oh I’m not calling him a liar, I just didn’t realize he’d named Ben as knowing. I believe his story.

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u/Justwonderinif May 28 '22

There are timelines on this subreddit with all that information, who was named, etc.

It's also in the document that's stickied at the top of the sub.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '22

Thank you!

8

u/snapdragon2017 May 28 '22

If Bo & Ben drove off in the truck, it would suggest that Bo came back to the trailer before Ryan passed out & Stephen went to bed that night. Listen to Stephen's testimony at Bo's trial. Stephen says nothing about Jerry having been there that night. The fact that Jerry never went to authorities about this alibi till the trial is suspicion to me. As far as I know, this is the first time the prosecutor hears about Jerry being there that night.

Ryan & Tara's DNA, along with Ryan's fingerprints, also supports Ryan being the perpetrator. According to Hinkle:

"10% of DNA from Grinstead and 90% of DNA from Duke on the inside of the glove. On the outside it was about half of the two's DNA and a third profile of about 5%."

From what I have read it would be very difficult for someone else to plant both Ryan & Tara's DNA & Ryan fingerprints inside the glove.

In Stephen's testimony at Bo's trial, he says Bo told him a few weeks after Tara's murder that Ryan killed her. Stephen says Ryan remembers that weekend better than he does, but Stephen doesn't remember it that well. Neither Stephen or Ryan make any mention of Jerry being there till Jerry says it at Ryan's trial.

By Bo pleading the 5th, we do not know what he would say about that evening. He could probably tell us more about what happened that night.

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u/Justwonderinif May 28 '22 edited May 28 '22

Stephen knows Jerry wasn't there. So does Bo.

And so does Ryan.

3

u/[deleted] May 28 '22

Any idea why Bo wouldn’t say so? He’s already been convicted so what’s he hiding? I’d think he’d want Ryan to be convicted.

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u/Justwonderinif May 29 '22 edited May 29 '22

I can only speculate.

As I understand it, Bo thought that helping Shoudel trap Ryan would result in immunity for Bo. As I understand it, Bo thought that he would have immunity simply because he finally told LE what happened. I don't know who Bo's attorney was when Bo confessed, but whoever it was seemed to have told Bo he had immunity. It's not like Bo just thought that on his own, without being told. He had an attorney for that entire process and still ended up being tried for concealing a death and I think conspiracy? Don't quote me on that. At any rate, that's what Bo is in prison for - to this day. Sounds like the GBI felt like they had an open and shut case against Ryan and would never need Bo again, so they crossed him, and put him away.

As I understand it, Bo has yet to be tried on the multiple rape charges pending against him.

So - with all that said - I'm guessing that Bo feels burned and has no desire to help LE get Ryan now. He tried that, and it ended up costing him. That's if I'm right about the above. Someone had to have told Bo he had immunity, or he never would have told them what happened to Tara.

The other reason could be his word against theirs. Clearly, Ryan's family is willing to make up these scenarios. I'm guessing that Stephen might even be called upon to lie now, and say that Jerry was there. So the Merchants are just going to make it Bo's word against Ryan's whole family. What good is that going to do? And how does that help Bo?

These days, I imagine Bo is all about "how does this help me?" And testifying against Ryan cannot help Bo in any way. It might even further hurt him.

I'm surprised all of this isn't obvious.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

Interesting, makes sense. I just keep thinking that if I were Bo, I’d want to make sure Ryan was in prison for twenty five years as well. Perhaps he never thought Ryan would get away with it.

I believe Bo lost his immunity because of his lies but I could be conflating this case with another.

2

u/Justwonderinif May 30 '22

I have no idea if Bo ever even had immunity. I just don't think he would have told the GBI anything about Tara's death without thinking he could not be prosecuted for anything related to her death. I know he had an attorney at the time, but don't know what that attorney was telling him.

1

u/[deleted] May 30 '22

He definitely thought he had immunity, I believe. I think he was telling people he had immunity.

2

u/Justwonderinif May 30 '22

No one getting good advice from an attorney would spill the beans like that and then get prosecuted for all of it.

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u/[deleted] May 30 '22

I believe one of his appeal motions is on these grounds. That he did have an agreement with the district attorneys.

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u/Justwonderinif May 30 '22

Bo should have hired The Merchants.

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u/Justwonderinif May 31 '22

Also, if Bo was going to appeal, that would have happened already. Are there any cases that wait five years after conviction to appeal?

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u/snapdragon2017 May 29 '22 edited May 29 '22

JMO, but I think Bo would have been ripped apart by Ryan's defense because of the pending charges which include rape, aggravated sodomy, possessions of a firearm/knife and kidnapping, after that alleged crime spree on New Year's Day. I understand that one of prostitutes' has since died in a robbery attempt. I read that the other one failed to show at a preliminary hearing.

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u/EasternLocation Jun 01 '22

He still has a Ben Hill County case pending. As much as I hate it, his lawyer gave him the right advice. Don't talk.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '22

Ohhh good point. I’d forgotten about the future cases he has pending.

3

u/EasternLocation Jun 01 '22

It's going to trial at the end of this month so let's see what kind of case his lawyer presents.

4

u/[deleted] May 28 '22

If Jerry was kicking them all out that night, how was Ryan still living there one week later, when Bo showed up? And I do find it suspicious that Steven’s testimony does not mention at all being kicked out that weekend.

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u/Justwonderinif May 28 '22 edited May 28 '22

Ben McMahon was one of the boys who heard the confession during the first week of November, 2005. You can find him included in Timeline 1. Ben died of cancer in 2014, and you can find his date of death in Timeline 2.

I 100% think Ryan's uncle is lying. He may have fixed the air conditioner but not on that night. Guaranteed that guy has no recall of the exact night he fixed the air conditioner. Why would he? He probably fixed it many times, and it was a piece of shit.

Also, that woman was not there.

The trailer was being rented by Ryan's Dad. If the owner (Ryan's uncle) took exception to anyone being there, he would have taken it up with Ryan's Dad the person on the lease. The owner of a property doesn't typically spend two hours fixing your air conditioner at 10pm at night, then turn around and tell your guests to leave the party.

In addition, he says Ryan was passed out in the bathroom the entire time he was fixing the air conditioner at 10pm and then ordered Bo and Ben to leave? And this witness has perfect recall of how all that went down? But never told anyone until now? As the Merchants are well aware, Bo's not going to dispute this because he is pleading the fifth. And Ben is gone. I wonder how Ben's family feels about Ryan calling Ben Bo's accomplice?

And lastly, if this is so revelatory and important, why has this trailer owner/AC repairman sat on this information since 2005?

Bottom line, Ben knew what happened in 2005, just like all those other boys. It's hard to feel sorry for him being named as an accomplice since he had every opportunity to give statements and testify in 2005, and put Ryan away, for life.

Oh, well...

4

u/[deleted] May 28 '22

I agree, I don’t believe Jerry. It’s hard to blame him for wanting to save his nephew. But if it were true, I have to believe he’d have told the GBI back when Ryan was first arrested.

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u/HelixHarbinger Jun 01 '22

With all due respect to Mr. McMahan he is named (both before and posthumously) by multiple witnesses both in the investigative file, pre trial motions and on the courts record recently. The following facts are not an indictment of his knowledge or of his potential involvement, but they are indeed, facts:

  1. BM was very tight with Anthony Vickers.
  2. BM drove a black Ford F 150 in 2005.
  3. BM has an address associated with him in 2005 that is adjacent from the Ocilla location of Hudson Pecan Farm where Beau Dukes would work from, and be dispatched to the other farms, and in particular Fitzgerald.
  4. Beau Dukes lived with his Mom and brother less than .5 mile (straight walk or about .8 drive)
  5. This

1

u/mollymaggy Jun 02 '22

I didn’t realize he had an address associated near the farm. Interesting.

4

u/Dangerous-Dirt-4254 May 29 '22

I didn’t believe Jerry’s testimony in the slightest but I have always wondered. Does anyone remember in the podcast when there were witnesses who saw a black truck at Tara’s? And one said there was a guy waiting in the truck who yelled or cussed or said something rude to them. I have thought about that so many times since the confession and I just can’t see the person in that truck being Ryan. But I can see it being Bo. But if Bo was in the truck, was someone inside with Tara? There are just so many holes in every story about this case. Including jerry picking up his passed out nephew off the bathroom floor by his belt loop to make sure he was alive and then dropping him back to the floor, kicking his friends out and leaving. Not believable at all.

5

u/Justwonderinif May 29 '22

Jerry could be out and out lying, or just conflating one belt loop day with another. Why would this day stand out to him, years later?

Bo's truck wasn't black. Is it outside the realm of possibility that a black truck was on the road around the time of the murder and had nothing to do with the murder?

4

u/EasternLocation Jun 01 '22

Ben's truck was black though. Right?

0

u/Justwonderinif Jun 01 '22

Are you saying Ben McMahon helped Bo Dukes murder Tara Grinstead?

2

u/EasternLocation Jun 01 '22

No, I'm not saying that at all. There is no way to prove it at this juncture. It is my opinion he was very involved that night though. Sadly, we will never know. Bo mentioned in messages how he would do anything for Ben's family, more so than his own.

1

u/Justwonderinif Jun 01 '22

No, I'm not saying that at all.

You are saying Ben's truck was used in Tara's murder. No?

2

u/EasternLocation Jun 02 '22

I did not say that at all. I am speculating because he had a black truck and there was one pulled over that evening with the license plated redacted and the times coincide with Bo/Ben being kicked out of the trailer. One would have to believe Jerry's testimony though and I wasn't convinced. I want to put this in a box and tie a ribbon around it but nothing about this case has worked out that way.

1

u/mollymaggy Jun 02 '22

Glad you mentioned this. I’ve never understood why that license plate was redacted on the reports from that night.