Up and Vanished - The Trial of Ryan Duke: Part 1

Episode Date: May 11, 2022

The Up and Vanished team is back on the ground in Ocilla for the highly anticipated trial of Ryan Duke. Jury selection begins and the trial kicks off. For ad-free listening and for Payne’s exclusive Friday recap episode, subscribe to Tenderfoot+ on Apple Podcasts or visit www.tenderfootplus.com for more details. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is the Up and Vantage trial series, The Trial of Ryan Duke. The trial began as many trials begin, with jury selection. 800 people across Irwin County were summoned, giving Judge Bill Reinhart and both the prosecution and defense the monumental task of cutting that number down to 12 jurors, plus the alternates. Those 12 will be given the duty of determining the guilt or innocence of Ryan Duke. Nina Enstead is in Osceola covering the trial for Tenderfoot TV. She's the host of the podcast Already Gone and a missing persons advocate with the Missing in Michigan organization. She's our eyes and ears inside the courtroom. Today, I sat in on the first day of jury selection in the trial

of Ryan Duke for the murder of Tara Grinstead. I wasn't sure what to expect when I entered the courthouse, but it was well-staffed. There are more than half a dozen bailiffs keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. We started the day with the Pledge of Allegiance, and then a very warm and friendly Judge Reinhart patiently walked prospective jurors through the process. I want to welcome those of you here that are summoned for jury duty this morning. We're going to be working on organizing the jury today. You're the first batch who's reported here this morning at nine o'clock. The voir dire, or the jury selection process, is the first thing that occurs in any jury trial,

criminal or civil otherwise. I understand very clearly that none of you got your summons in the mail and said, yeah, who I get to go serve on the jury. But it's important, ladies and gentlemen, this is not my court system or the sher's or the clerk's. This court system belongs to the citizens of Irwin County. It's your court system. And it will work to the extent that you're willing to support it and participate in it. At this time, ladies and gentlemen, I'll sound the first case for consideration for this trial term, and that is case number 2017, case for consideration for this trial term, and that is case number 2017, CR 027, State of Georgia v. Ryan Duke, Ryan Alexander Duke, excuse me. Is the state ready? All right, is defense ready? All right, thank you all. All right, ladies and gentlemen, the first case of State v. Ryan

Alexander Duke been sounded for trial, both sides announcing ready, will commence the trial at this time. Today, the court organized them into groups of 12 so they can return to court later in the week for questioning or voir dire, as the attorneys determine which of them will decide the fate of Ryan Duke. And Ryan?

He was in court today. His hair freshly trimmed, he was wearing a gray suit, and he even had supporters in attendance. They kept a watchful eye on proceedings and waved or smiled to him when they could. At the defense table, there was Ryan Duke and a trio of attorneys surrounded by binders, laptops, and water bottles. And listeners, while it's still spring for much of the country, South Georgia is seeing temperatures in the 90s. For the prosecution,

we had four people, and they too had their binders, technology, and water bottles. Both teams were attentive to the judge and the jury pool. The court staff was scrambling a little bit, but did an impressive job keeping the flow of jurors moving and organized. I don't think Ocilla has experienced a trial of this magnitude before. It looked like some of the jurors knew each other, and I saw many nods, smiles, and handshakes as people moved through the process. Anything further? Either side want me to just guess for these folks or instruct these folks before they leave?

This is more for the jury generally, but before their excuse. I know we've addressed it previously, but I want to make sure that we address exactly what the media situation in front of the jurors so that they understand that they're not being put on TV and all that. Sure, that's right. We have some public interest in this case, ladies and gentlemen. The court has allowed the media to be here, television, print media, whomever. This is an open court house, so anybody can be here. For the jury selection and for the trial, no photographs, no film, nothing will be made of any juror. Okay, so relax about that if you are selected on the jury, even through this process. When you're not a juror, you're just a prospective juror, you will not be shown on television. Okay?

We'll meet y'all back here tomorrow morning at 830. We'll swear you in. We'll ask you the questions. You'll be out of here in a couple hours, I hope, at the most tomorrow. Anybody have any questions about anything? Don't do any legal research or anything like that. That would be inappropriate. Okay?

anything, don't do any legal research or anything like that. That would be inappropriate, okay? Phil Holloway, a criminal defense attorney who you've heard on Up and Vanish season one, has sat through his fair share of jury selections. Small town trials pose a unique problem in that everyone knows each other, everyone talks to each other, and gossip travels fast. It can make jury selection a much more difficult process. Here's Phil. It can make jury selection a much more difficult process. Here's Phil. The idea in a criminal jury trial, in any case, is to find a jury that can keep an open mind. And in a place like Osceola, Georgia, you're not going to realistically be able to find 12 people plus alternates.

And I think there's going to be about six in this case that have no knowledge of the case. Osceola and Irwin County is just so small that this has been the talk of that town for 17 years or so. People talk about it at lunch counters. They talk about it at the grocery store, over the dinner table, you name it. Half of the county participated in searching for Tara in the days and weeks after she went missing. So it's almost impossible to find anybody who's not heard about the case. The question is, can they find enough people who have not made up their mind and can keep an open mind and can base their decision on the evidence that they hear in the courtroom, testimony that comes from the witness stand, and setting aside any preconceived ideas that they might have. And it looks like they're going to be able to do it. And I think that's important because this is a gaping wound in the soul of Irwin County. And Irwin County needs to be able to resolve this on its own. A change of venue should be the very last resort. It might be necessary in some cases, but it looks like

they're going to be able to find a jury, fortunately, in Irwin County in this case. Lawyers have to do a lot of educating potential jurors over things like, you know, the real criminal justice system. They need to educate during the jury selection process. They need to educate, for example, that, you know, we may not have eyewitnesses. We may not have all the things you see on TV like CSI. In the real world, things work differently than you may see on TV. So if you're expecting to come in here and have it be like an episode of Law & Order, then you're going to be

disappointed. The lawyers have to set the expectations of the potential jurors going into the case. But beyond that, each side is looking for jurors that might be open-minded enough to see things their way. The defense is claiming, among other things, that the alleged confession of Ryan Duke is a false confession. Well, it's counterintuitive. People might think, well, why would somebody confess to something that they didn't do? People like me who have studied this, and I've done my own podcast episodes on junk science, and so I know that false confessions are real. The defense would be looking, for example, for people who can keep an open mind and might be able to wrap their head around the notion that false confessions can and do happen. The prosecutors are going to look for law and order types. They're going to look for people who will assume that police always get it right,

for example, and that would give maybe the benefit of the doubt, so to speak, to a law enforcement witness. Each side is looking for people that they might think can see things their way in the end. Everybody in Irwin County, with few exceptions, I'm sure, have at least heard of Up and Vanished and other podcasts and other TV shows that have looked at the Tara Grinstead saga. They're going to have to explore how much media exposure the potential jurors have received. I think it would be important, for example, if I were a lawyer on either side of this case, I would want to know who listened to Up and Vanished because in season one, we looked at a lot of different potential legal theories. We looked at plausible, arguable,

other potential suspects in the case. Other TV shows and other podcasts that may have looked into this may not have done quite so much. The prosecutors, they've listened to Up and Vanish. They know what we covered. So they want to know what these people have been exposed to. They want to try to weed out anybody that might have been influenced in any meaningful way. And I can just tell you, a lot of our listeners are not convinced that the prosecution has the right person on trial for the actual murder. It would be irresponsible, I think, of the court not to inquire of the potential jurors. You know, we want a fair trial. At the end of the day, we want a verdict that speaks the truth. And we don't want a juror to make a decision on what they think

happened because they may think highly of Payne Lindsey or me or Up and Vanished or Maurice Godwin or anybody else. And by the same token, you don't want somebody who hates us to make their decision based on that either. So I think it would be irresponsible not to delve into what type of media

or podcast exposure that these potential jurors have had. I picked a jury myself just a few weeks ago in a more garden variety felony case that took longer than this one appears to be taking. But what appears to be happening is the judge is really wanting to get the trial itself underway. Jury selection is probably the most boring part of any criminal trial. It's also very, very important. So you can't rush too much. You've got to be thorough. He's working the lawyers like, you know, 12 hours a day.

And that's in court. And it's not like these lawyers can leave the courthouse and just go have a beer and go to bed. They've got to get ready for the next day. And there's only so many hours in the day and people have to sleep and they have to eat and they have to do other things. So it's very, very hard physically and mentally on counsel for both sides, quite frankly, to spend that many hours in a courtroom focusing on picking a jury and then still having to get ready to come

right back and do it all again the next day. But by working 12 hours a day and by really pushing and having very few restroom breaks, I think I heard that there was something like 20 minutes for lunch on Tuesday. That's crazy. I've never really heard of a jury selection Vordire scenario that was that aggressive. Irwin County doesn't have the resources to drag this thing out any longer than is absolutely going to be required. And that may have something to do with it. The parties and the judge is not playing favorites. They're both being treated the same. He's pushing both sides to get this done, to not waste a lot of time asking a bunch of questions. And a lot of this was covered with the questionnaire, and that helps getting some

of this information out in writing by doing a jury questionnaire so that the lawyers don't have to always rehash it. They do get to ask follow-up questions when they think it's appropriate. The judge is letting them ask their questions, but he's just saying, ask the questions you want to ask, get what you need from these jurors, but we'll work as late in the day as we have to to get it done. I've not heard any discussion about a sequestration of a jury, and that's a drastic thing for a judge to do. What I think is going to happen, it's usually adequate, is for a judge to instruct a jury, because the trial jury,

whichever 12 people plus the alternate gets picked, they have to be sworn in. They have to take an oath. And one of the parts of their oath is to follow the instructions of the court. Just like the lawyers, they are subject to orders and instructions from the judge. One of the instructions that the judge will give them over and over and over again is that while this trial is underway, they are not to watch anything on TV about it. They're not to listen to any podcasts about it. They're not to participate on social media about it. They're not supposed to talk to their mama, their daddy, their girlfriend, their husband, wife, boyfriend, whatever. They are not supposed to talk about it. They are not

supposed to do anything related to the case except when they are in court and hearing it from inside the courtroom. So it's not a physical sequestration, but it's a court order to basically build a wall around yourself and live inside a bubble that has nothing to do with the Tara Grinstead trial except when you're in the courtroom. Grinstead trial, except when you're in the courtroom. There's one thing that it's worth talking about that I would be very, very leery of and concerned about if I were a lawyer in this case on either side, and that is a stealth juror. A stealth juror is someone who wants to be on a jury because they have a certain agenda. Let's just say you want to convict Ryan Duke. You may be less than honest in your answers. You may just sort of try to fly under the radar and hope that you get picked because you have an agenda in the jury room.

Or it could be the other way. Maybe you want to hang the jury. Maybe you want to convince the jury that Bo Dukes is the real killer. convince the jury that Bo Dukes is the real killer. Stealth jurors, they do sometimes make their way into juries and they can wreak havoc in a jury room. It's possible you could have that. And the most often time that you see that is in high profile cases. I think the odds of that happening are probably pretty low in this case. Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke and all of their relatives in Irwin County and nearby counties, they're all pretty well known. Even though I think the parties have done as well as can be expected in eliminating people who know the

players, the witnesses, the parties, whatever. I think that there's going to undoubtedly be some discussion in the jury room about things that people know about Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke that may not have come from the courtroom. Thank you. With Rakuten, you can. You can earn cash back on just about anything you buy from over 750 stores. If you've ever bought electronics, home decor, fashion and beauty, or booked a trip, well, you could have got cash back. But don't worry, it's not too late. It's free and easy to use, and you get cash back deposited into your PayPal account or sent to you as a check.

Earn cash back at stores like Sephora, Old Navy, and Expedia. It's the smartest way to shop, plain and simple. Start your shopping at Rakuten.ca or get the Rakuten app. That's R-A-K-U-T-E-N dot C-A. The 800 people who received a summons were pared down by the court, and in the end, I would say that less than 200 people had to physically appear in the courthouse. Now, choosing a jury is part art and part science. Potential jurors faced a lot of questions,

and some of these questions were formalities, such as, are you an American citizen? Do you live in Irwin County? Did you serve on the grand jury in this case? Other questions were more nuanced. Have you ever worked two jobs to make ends meet? Are you a manager? Do you have the ability to hire and fire people? Then there were the questions that made me do a double take.

Any of you just know Mr. Duke? They still is a pretty small town. Is there anybody on the panel who, for whatever reason, your mind is not, right now, perfectly impartial between the state and the accused Mr. Duke? Ever heard someone else express an opinion about who they believe committed this murder? Is there anyone in the panel who simply cannot set aside what they've heard other people say about who committed the murder if they were selected as a jury? But I want to know specifically, if you've listened to any of the podcast that was known as the Up and Vanish podcast that started in 2016. Have you listened to the podcast? Did you listen to all of it or just some of it? And did you listen before the arrest in this case or after there was an arrest?

And on each panel of 12 potential jurors, at least three of them had listened to the podcast in whole or in part. Now, having listened to the podcast or following the podcast or following Payne Lindsay on social media did not disqualify potential jurors. There were many follow-up questions about being impartial about a juror's ability to listen to evidence in the courtroom and not allow the podcast or other news coverage of the case to sway their decision-making. From my vantage point in the courtroom, I was tucked in the back alongside other members of the press,

I did not see any juror dismissed outright, except for a couple of people who were released due to medical issues that would prevent them from sitting on the panel for several weeks. If you're wondering about Ryan Duke and the defense team, Ryan looks okay. His color isn't great, likely from his long days sitting inside awaiting this trial, but he appears optimistic and alert in the courtroom, and he's had family sitting in on several days of jury selection.

For the defense, the merchants, Ashley and John, and their co-counsel, Irwin County native Evan Gibb, appear fresh and ready for the task at hand. On the other side of the courtroom is veteran prosecutor Brad Rigby. You may remember him from the Bo Dukes trial, and I expect Rigby to be just as animated, forceful, and motivated in this case as he was prosecuting Bo. Rigby has a solid team around him too. The Honorable Bill Reinhart is presiding, and he has a team of almost a dozen bailiffs and sheriffs circulating in the courthouse to keep the proceedings safe and organized. My only quibble with the good judge is that he's not a fan of cell phones. No phones are allowed in the building. This makes it a challenge to share updates from

the courtroom as they happen. I'm excited to see where the trial takes us and if we will finally have long-awaited justice for Tara. Just a few days into jury selection, Payne was served with a subpoena to appear as a witness in Ryan Duke's trial. Served is probably not the right word, actually. More like notified he would be served. Here's Payne to explain what happened. The full interview is available on Tenderfoot Plus. I was going to CrimeCon, and we had a panel with Phil, Maurice,

and Julie Grant from Core TV. It was actually me and Mike were about to take off, and one of the field producers from Core TV just sent me a text and it was a picture of my subpoena. I was like, oh shit. And it was right before takeoff, about to lose service and not have wifi for 20 minutes. And I noticed that they had my wrong address on there. And so I think that they attempted to serve me at a place I lived at years ago. I also don't know how they got that address. It's also kind of weird. And so I immediately contacted my own attorney and said, okay, what do we do about this? You know, I,

this has never happened to me before. Also, I don't know what they want. What do they think that I know? Just some sort of ploy or bluff? You know, I don't know. But we arranged a couple of days, two weeks from now, that I would go testify if they decide to call me. And there's still a strong chance that they don't call me. But I can only imagine if they do call me, just based on the tone of the prosecution, that no matter what they ask me, it's going to be interesting. Because I wonder what kind of angle they would possibly have or how they think that I could help them with anything. Because the podcast exists. If you want to take an interview from the podcast, you can do that and use it as evidence. What does me being up there do or change? I feel like if it ever goes to that point where

they feel the necessity to call me to the stand, really, I would say for the defense or the prosecution, I think it just tells me that they don't have a lot. And they're going to frame this a little bit differently for the jury. And I don't know what that would be, but I'm willing to do my part. And if I get called, I'll go up there and say what I know. And hopefully that helps create a resolution. On Friday, Payne received this email from the district attorney's office.

It has come to our attention that Mr. Lindsay posted a photograph of the original subpoena issued to him on social media this week. So we are aware that he's already been served in some manner. He can remain on call and the dates we discussed are still what we will plan on. been served in some manner. He can remain on call and the dates we discussed are still what we will plan on. Please remind Mr. Lindsay that as a potential witness in this case, he cannot watch any media coverage of the trial prior to his testimony or until he is released from our subpoena. As a journalist, Payne is clearly protected by the First Amendment here. Payne and his attorney scrambled to file a motion in court before 5 p.m. Friday opposing this. this attorney scrambled to file a motion in court before 5 p.m. Friday opposing this.

Hello? Hey, I'm going to call my attorney real quick and loop him in. Hello, Payne? Hey, man, how you doing? Hey, I'm good. How are you? I'm doing well, man. On Friday afternoon, right? Right. A little rush. I got Phil on the other line. He just wants to chat real quick, and then we'll go from there. Hey, guys. This whole instruction about not watching the proceedings just, like, came up in the last day or so, right? It came out today. Okay, so you got a great excuse for not filing anything until now. I read what Payne sent, the draft.

I think it looks great. In your demand or your prayers for relief, I would in bold, utter lines say, we request an emergency hearing. And I also might put that in the title of the motion, motion to quash and say emergency motion to quash an emergency request for a hearing. But they never, they never properly served him. They didn't, they didn't serve him in person. They didn't send it by certified mail, which is what the statute requires. But I would not at all assume that it's safe to watch opening statements now that this issue has been raised. Last Friday, the Osceola Star went through something similar. They went ahead and took testimony and preserved the testimony.

The judge was very understanding. We're not going to tell the media that they can't watch the trial. That's their job. There's a First Amendment interest and all that. So the judge is very understanding of the issue. But at a minimum, I think

that the judge will either quash the subpoena or he will make some accommodations so that Payne can observe and whatnot on the proceedings, which would include smoking statements. But you need to be heard. You need to request to be heard on this before they do anything. I don't expect to have the file copy today, so I'll send you a confirmed copy that we're filing. Just let me know once it's been filed. We'll do. You got it. Thank you very much.

And call me if you need it. Alright, bye-bye. Thanks, guys. Payne, much appreciated, man. Yeah, man, no problem. The court eventually ruled in Payne's favor, stating that he is allowed to watch the trial, but will remain under subpoena and may still be called to testify if needed. In an email, Payne's lawyer said, We also asked for an emergency hearing in advance of the trial starting this morning.

After some back and forth over the weekend, our South Georgia counsel was able to appear before the judge and his court starting this morning. After some back and forth over the weekend, our South Georgia counsel was able to appear before the judge and his court reporter this morning and report that the parties were able to agree that you are not subject to sequestration and can watch coverage of the trial. It's good we were able to resolve this and the court was good about hearing from us

and addressing this important First Amendment issue. And joining me now from Osceola, Nina Instead. And Nina, you've had quite the long day. What time did your day start today? My day started around six o'clock this morning. I got to court about eight o'clock because I wanted to see if the hearing on Payne's subpoena would be done in court this morning, but apparently that happened in chambers and I missed it. Yeah. We were talking to Phil Holloway and he mentioned that that might, if that's going to happen, it was going to happen before, before the trial kind of actually started and it would happen, you know, behind closed doors. What was the mood like there? You've been there for how long now?

So I was there last week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We did not have court Thursday or Friday. There was court proceedings on Thursday, but they were not necessarily something the public needed to be involved in. They were hearing a couple of motions. So I watched all of jury selection, which was fascinating. You know, we know Osceola is a small town, but you don't realize how small a town it is until one of the jurors mentions that both his mother and his wife were also called for jury duty. That's, look, I've never lived in a small town like that, but it definitely drives home that

feeling that everyone knows each other. Everyone, I don't want to say in each other's business, but I mean, you mentioned that, you know, people in the jury were shaking hands and saying hello to each other. And it must have been kind of a weird experience just to kind of see all that kind of play out. It was. And it wasn't just the jurors saying hello to one another. The jurors knew the bailiffs and they knew the other jurors that were coming in for the next session

and they knew the sheriff. And there was a lot of, you know, hey, good to see you. And then during questioning, they'd say, well, do you know this person, this person, this person? And you'd see the hands go up because, yes, I went to school with that person. I went to school with Ryan Duke. Tara Grinstead was my teacher. I know this detective because we go to the same church.

It was just very old home week in the courtroom. Apparently, you're seeing, you know, terror students and Ryan's classmates called for jury duty. Is that, how does that, I mean, that truly does drive home the point that it is a tiny town. It is a tiny town.

And in a way it's nice because they're getting closure to this story that has impacted them for almost two decades. But you don't realize how small Osceola and Irwin County really is until you sit in court and see all of these people that know each other and that are intertwined. And then what's the feel in the courtroom itself? Is it a friendly environment?

I know that's kind of weird to say, but given the small town aspect of it, it would seem, and given what we saw today, it would seem that there's not a lot of hostility that kind of goes around. Everything's very civil. Everything is very civil. Everyone is incredibly nice and polite and friendly. In fact, on Wednesday, the judge had to speak with the bailiffs and say, look, I understand that you're running into people that you know, but your job today is not to be their friend. Your job is to protect our potential jurors, to protect our witnesses, to protect our attorneys, and to keep this courtroom a safe place. So the judge was basically admonishing the sheriffs

and the bailiffs that, look, you can't be friendly with people. You can nod and smile, but you should not be having a conversation. You should be focused on doing your job, which is providing a safe environment for the people participating in our judicial system. And the judge was very warm as he gave this admonition to the staff, but it was just coming from a big city. It's so strange to see this sort of caution being given.

Obviously, the topic of upadventure has come up in the jury selection process. Has it come up kind of in casual conversation in the time that you spent there? Have people brought it up? Have you brought it up? Everyone obviously knows what it is, right? Right. And during jury selection, they were actually saying,

did you listen to, and sometimes they'd say, did you watch the podcast, which I always got a chuckle out of, but did you listen to the podcast? Are you familiar with the podcast? Do you know who Payne Lindsay is? And there were potential jurors, and I believe at least two people on the jury that have listened to the podcast, and I think one that followed Payne on social media. Interesting, interesting. Yeah, well, there was a lot of speculation in some of the online groups that I saw that, oh, they're just gonna kick people off the jury

if they listen to the podcast, it'll rule them out. It didn't. The podcast itself probably is going to have some kind of an impact, whether it should or shouldn't. Technically, all the jurors should not be paying attention to anything that happens from a media sense. But you got to think that the podcast, the media surrounding it is going to play a role

to some degree. Absolutely. And the judge does admonish them at the end of the day that they're not to seek out any media. They're not to have conversations about the podcast. Although I do have to share, I got a message over the weekend from a listener asking if court was open today,

like if they could come and watch. And I said, sure. And this lady showed up in court, it was her birthday. And she wanted to spend her birthday in court watching the trial because she's been literally following this case from day one. And that was, I got to chat with her briefly today

and that was really neat. Do you see a lot of that where it's just normal people coming off the street to kind of check out kind of how it all works, how it all goes down, given how big the case is? Have you seen a lot of that? People just kind of walking in and checking it out? It would not surprise me. I know I've seen discussions of it on social media. Can I attend? Is it an open court? And yes, it is as long as there's room and you know not to bring your phone and of course to act responsibly and respectfully.

I think it's fine if you want to come and sit in on the proceedings. Are you enjoying the small town feel of Osceola? Are you able to kind of, what have you been doing outside of spending eight hours a day in court? Well, there's a little local place called Chicken Delight where I've been getting my lunch. And I think I have to stop doing that because my

sodium levels are going up, but the food is so good. We had a beautiful spring day today, so it was really nice. I had my lunch on the courthouse square, which was nice. And I'm staying actually in Tifton, which is a few miles outside of Osceola, but it's really the nearest accommodations available. And I believe some of the people from Court TV are also staying in this hotel. I saw them in the lobby this evening. Have you noticed any, say, kind of out-of-towners in for kind of, I guess, the show of the whole thing, the spectacle of the whole thing? Anyone that's kind of come in specifically to see that trial, to visit Osceola for that trial?

Not that I've noticed, but I'm going to keep an eye out in court this week because you know they're coming. Oh, for sure. At some point, I feel like as we get to the end, maybe more people show up. But we'll wait and see on that one. So obviously today, first day of opening statements, and you saw a number of witnesses take the stand. What was noteworthy about the people that kind of were under oath there?

So we had 10 witnesses take the stand today, which I found very impressive that we got through so many. The two that I think were most interesting, especially for listeners, is Troy Davis, Dr. Davis. interesting, especially for listeners, is Troy Davis, Dr. Davis. And he talked about this party at his house and seeing Tara and what she was wearing and how he heard her making a phone call, which she ended with, I love you too. And when he asked her who she was talking to, she said it was an old friend. And that old friend was someone else who took the stand today, and that was Heath Dykes, Tara's lover. And Heath talked about being at Tara's house when Anthony Vickers came to her house and was pounding on the door and screaming for her.

And that Dykes, as a police officer, offered to intervene and take care of it, and she said, no, no. But the police ended up being called, and Vickers ended up being arrested, and Dykes was apparently at her house for care of it. And she said, no, no. But the police ended up being called and Vickers ended up being arrested. And Dykes was apparently at her house for all of this and witnessed it. Goodness.

Things kind of ended a little bit dramatically though, given it's the first day, did it not? It did. The last witness was Ocilla Police Chief Billy Hancock on cross, which was the very last few moments of court today. So it's, you know, it's almost 4.30 and everybody's sort of ready to go and they're wrapping up. And he flat out asks, John Merchant asks him about tips that came in in the case. And yeah, we were

getting tips and we were overwhelmed by the tips. And I know the GBI was getting tips and he asked him, did you get a tip about a body being burned at Fitzgerald Farms in November of 2005? And Chief Billy responded, yes, yes, I did. And that's where we left it for the day. And we'll leave it there to tease the audience to tune in next week. Nina, I thank you for your hard work. Have fun while you're down there. And again, thank you so much for what you're doing.

Sounds good. Thank you. Tune in Thursday as we dive into opening statements in the first days of the Ryan Duke trial. Up and Vanish is produced by Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta with production support by Core TV. Created by Payne Lindsey. Executive producer, Donald Albright. Produced by Thrasher Banks, Meredith Stedman, and Eric Quintana.

Edited by Thrasher Banks. Hosting and field production by Nina Enstead. Music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Sound design and mixing by Cooper Skinner. Original artwork by Trevor Eiler. Special thanks to Beth Hemphill, Julie Grant, and Philip Holloway. Check out the discussion board at upandvantage.com. If you have any questions, leave us a voicemail at 770-545-6411. For ad-free listening and Payne's exclusive Friday recap episode, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus on Apple Podcasts

or visit tenderfootplus.com.