Defriending Woman on Facebook Leads to Double Murder
A Nashville, Tenn., couple was murdered in their home after they "defriended" a woman on Facebook.
The angry father of the defriended woman and another man, who is a second cousin to one of the victims, were responsible for the double homicide, police said on Thursday.
According to Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece, Billy Clay Payne, Jr. and his wife, Billie Jean Hayworth, were killed last month after they deleted Jenelle Potter from their "friends" list on the popular social networking site. The couple was shot in the head and the husband's throat had also been slit.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"It's the worst thing I've ever seen," Sheriff Reece told the press, adding that in 27 years on the force he had never seen anything like this killing in the area. "We've had murders, but nothing like this. This is just senseless."
The couple's 8-month-old infant was found unharmed in its mother's arms when the bodies were discovered.
Jamie Lynn Curd, 38, and Marvin Enoch "Buddy" Potter Jr., 60, were arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Wednesday in Mountain City, Tenn.
According to Reece, several other harassment charges had previously been filed against Jenelle Potter in court over "someone blocking her or taking her off" of their Facebook.
"Once you've crossed her, you've crossed her father too," Reece told Reuters. Potter, in her late 20s or early 30s, lives at home with her parents and spends most of her time on Facebook.
Although no charges have been filed against Jenelle Potter, the sheriff said, her father, "Buddy" Potter, must return to court next week for a bond hearing when he hires an attorney. The second assailant, Curd, was appointed an attorney and bond was set for him at $750,000 for each count of murder.
R.O Smith, Curd's attorney, told Reuters it was "safe to say there's more to it than the Facebook problem, it appears." His client's preliminary hearing will begin in March.
"I wish I could provide more of what went on, but there's needless to say a lot of rumors swirling around and nothing substantiated on the rumors," Smith added.
