The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2nd man charged in Cobb country club killings
Suspect faces two kidnapping counts in July 3 slayings.
Cobb County police have issued a warrant for a second suspect in the case of three men who were shot to death on Independence Day weekend at a Kennesaw-area country club.
Justin Caleb Pruitt is charged with two counts of kidnapping in connection with the July 3 slayings of Paul Pierson and Henry Valdez, according to a warrant issued last week. The men were found tied up and shot in the back of a pickup on the 10th hole of Pinetree Country Club, not far from Kennesaw State University’s main campus.
A third victim, golf director Gene Siller, was killed after going onto the course to find out why the truck had driven onto the fairway and gotten stuck near a sand trap, investigators said.
Bryan Anthony Rhoden, now 24, was arrested on murder charges five days later and remains in jail.
Pruitt’s warrant, issued Dec. 15, alleges he acted as a “co-conspirator and accomplice” in helping bind Pierson and Valdez with duct tape and zip ties at a warehouse along Jonesboro Road in Clayton County. He is also accused of helping transport the men some 41 miles to the country club, where investigators say Pierson and Valdez were killed by Rhoden.
Pruitt’s warrant accuses him of kidnapping the men, but he is not charged in their killings, records show. Cobb police Chief Tim Cox described Rhoden as the “lone shooter” at a news conference after his arrest.
The Dodge pickup that had been driven onto the 10th hole of the golf course was registered to the 76-year-old Pierson, who lived in Topeka, Kansas. Valdez, who was 46, lived in Anaheim, California, The Atlanta Journal-constitution previously reported.
Pierson was shot multiple times, in the back, buttock, leg and arms, according to prosecutors. Valdez was killed by a shot to the head, Rhoden’s indictment states.
Siller, a beloved golf pro and father of two, had no connection to the suspects or the other two victims, according to police. Investigators said the 46-year-old “happened upon a crime in progress” when he was fatally shot as employees and club members looked on in horror.
Rhoden, an aspiring rapper who lived in Atlanta, is charged with three counts of malice murder, five counts of felony murder, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and tampering with evidence, according to his indictment.
He was arrested July 8 after a sting by Chamblee police that lured him into custody under the guise of returning a large sum of money seized during a traffic arrest the night of the shootings.
Pruitt, who has a Huger, South Carolina, address listed on his warrant, has not been booked into the Cobb jail, records show. A police spokesperson said Thursday that she did not have any additional information to provide about his alleged involvement in the case.