Posted on 02/10/2012 12:53:17 AM PST by nickcarraway
A Tennessee couple who 'unfriended' a woman on Facebook were murdered in their home by the jilted woman's father and another man, police said on Thursday.
"It's the worst thing I've ever seen," Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece said, adding he had never seen anything like it in his 27 years in law enforcement in the area. "We've had murders, but nothing like this. This is just senseless."
He said Billy Clay Payne, Jr. and Billie Jean Hayworth were killed last month after they deleted Jenelle Potter, the daughter of one of the suspects, from their 'friends' list. Both were shot in the head and the man had his throat cut.
The couple's 8-month-old baby was in the mother's arms, unharmed, when the bodies were found.
Marvin Enoch "Buddy" Potter Jr., 60, and Jamie Lynn Curd, 38, were each charged on Wednesday in Mountain City in northeastern Tennessee with two counts of first-degree murder. The men were arrested on Tuesday.
The case was not the first involving violence linked to Facebook. Last year in Iowa, a woman was arrested on accusations of setting fire to a friend's garage after she was unfriended on the social network site, local media reported.
In Texas, a man was accused of hitting his wife after she failed to "like" a Facebook post he wrote about the anniversary of his mother's death, according to media reports.
In the Tennessee case, Reece said a couple of harassment cases had been filed against Jenelle Potter in court over "someone blocking her or taking her off."
"Once you've crossed her, you've crossed her father too," Reece said, adding that Jenelle Potter, in her late 20s or early 30s, stays home with her parents and was constantly on Facebook.
Her father, "Buddy" Potter, will return to court next week for a bond hearing after he hires an attorney. Curd, also a second cousin of one of the victims, was appointed an attorney and bond was set at $750,000 for each murder count. His preliminary hearing will be in March.
No charges have been filed against Jenelle Potter, the sheriff said. She could not reached for comment.
Curd's attorney, RO Smith, an assistant public defender, said it was "safe to say there's more to it than the Facebook problem, it appears."
"I wish I could provide more of what went on, but there's needless to say a lot of rumours swirling around and nothing substantiated on the rumours," Smith said.
“It’s sick out there and getting sicker.” - Bob Grant
OMG!!!
This is pretty darn sick, let me tell ya.
WTH?? I thought I needed to unplug...But I don`t do facebook. This is crazy.
Another reason I don’t do facebook!
And just to clarify, on FR, when one gets the “zot” - it’s just a goofy thing on the computer - right? Right!?
And just to clarify, on FR, when one gets the zot - its just a goofy thing on the computer - right? Right!?
Well, it should not lead to murder. That`s for sure.
I suspect the unfriending was less of a cause, and more of a correlation. Maybe they unfriended her because she was a crazy psycho with a crazy psycho father who was threatening to kill them whether or not facebook had ever existed.
I got out of Dodge on FB last year, was getting bad as Topix.
Me neither!
Lyrics not safe for anywhere expecting decency:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCvveN87KE8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
But as a friend said, there are people out there actually that crazy, and not nearly as lighthearted as this song.
For those unable to view or uninterested, the song is “Internet Friends” by “Knife Party”. The middle of the song is very Terminator-esque.
right? Right!?...As we all know....There is NOTHING goofy on a computer. Look under your bed tonight.
Lol!
In AFTER “I don’t do FB”
Where is the government ?! Facebook kills people ! Ban Facebook !
It’s an assault-style website !
(I've also never posted anything on Facebook that could prove embarrassing.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.