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'It's taken a remarkably long time': Jury selection begins in Ricky Dubose death penalty trial

Corrections officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica were shot aboard a prison bus while driving inmates through Putnam County in June 2017.

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. — We're coming up on what could be the last chapter of Ricky Dubose's death penalty trial. He and his fellow prison inmate Donnie Rowe are accused of brutally killing two Georgia corrections officers.

Now, jury selection for Dubose's trial begins Monday. Here is a recap the murders and court proceedings so far...

Corrections officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica were shot aboard a prison bus while driving inmates through Putnam County in June 2017.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said inmates Ricky Dubose and Donnie Rowe escaped and went on a crime spree, ending in Tennessee days later.

"Either he'll get death, or he'll get life, or he'll get life without parole,” said Sills.

He says danger is everywhere, but it's hard when the victims wear a uniform.

"Anytime anybody in law enforcement is killed in the line of duty, it has a big impact on other law enforcement personnel. You often wonder, that could've been me,” he said.

Sills says he's the lead investigator in the double-homicide and the jury will be picked in Brunswick. He's packed enough clothes for a couple of weeks.

"It's taken a remarkably long time. I've never had a case in my entire career that's taken this long,” said Sills.

Last August, one of the suspects – inmate Donnie Rowe – was convicted of all charges. He was sentenced to life in jail without parole. 

Sills says both he and the officers' families were disappointed that the jury didn't vote for the death penalty. 

"I'm sure that with this finally coming about is going to help them because I can see the frustration in their faces,” said Sills.

13WMAZ reached out to the families of Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica, but they declined to comment. But their statements during Rowe's trial speak for themselves.

"You are a murderer. A thief. You have taken things that were not yours,” said Carole Billue, Sgt. Billue's sister.

"The defendant took something from me that I'll never get back -- my dad. He ruthlessly murdered my dad with no remorse,” said Sgt. Monica’s daughter, Zoey. “I was 16-years old. I had to grow up without him. He wasn't there to see me graduate, or see me at my senior lead out for prom, or to start college. He will miss my entire life. I will be the girl who will one day walk down the aisle without my dad by my side.”

Sills says that the jury is just as much a part of the justice system as he is, and the trial is in their hands.

"You know we want the death penalty, but that's not up to us... it's up the jury,” he said.

The trial starts Monday. Sills says lawyers in the case won't come back to Putnam County's courthouse to start presenting evidence until early June. 

CASE TIMELINE

June 13, 2017: Investigators say Ricky Dubose and Donnie Rowe were being transported on a bus when they overpowered the two guards, killed them, and escaped. It happened on Highway 16 W of Sparta near Eatonton around 6:45 a.m. There were 33 prisoners and two guards on the bus.

A man was driving on the highway when he saw the stopped bus and thought it was part of a work detail. When he stopped his car, he was robbed at gunpoint. The driver was unharmed and flagged down the next car for help.

During a media briefing that night, Sheriff Howard Sills said the two inmates broke into a home in Morgan County earlier that day. The home was ransacked and Dubose and Rowe stole some food and clothes, according to Sills.

June 14, 2017: The search for the two inmates expanded around the Southeast. Authorities said they recovered the vehicle taken by the two escaped inmates near the scene of the house burglary.

That night, a white Ford F-250 was stolen from the Seven Islands Road area of Morgan County.

June 15, 2017: Police in Shelbyville, Tennessee, told the GBI they responded to a home invasion where the two inmates tied two people up and left the scene.

According to Bedford County Sheriff Austin Swing, Dubose and Rowe ditched a vehicle at the base of a hill in Shelbyville, covering the car with grass and branches.

Swing said they forced their way into a home at gunpoint and the couple who lived there spent the next three hours tied up while the fugitives ate their beef stew and pilfered their valuables.

He said the two stole the couple's Jeep Cherokee and led deputies on a high-speed chase followed by a foot chase down I-24 just south of Murfreesboro.

A nearby homeowner heard the men outside and held them at gunpoint until law enforcement arrived.

TIMELINE IN COURT

June 20, 2017: Dubose and Rowe make their first appearance in court. District Attorney Stephen Bradley requests the death penalty.

Nov 29, 2018: A trial date for Ricky Dubose is set for Sept. 2019.

Jan - March 2019: Hearings move jury selection for the trial to Grady County in southwest Georgia. The jury will then be transported to Putnam County.

June 2019: Inmates on the bus in June 2017 sue the Georgia Department of Corrections and prison officials, saying their civil rights were violated. They claim they were injured during or after the June 13 fatal shootings. The inmates also blamed the shootings on the Department of Corrections and their failure to follow procedures.

Aug 2019: Dubose's trial is delayed to allow time for mental status testing.

Oct 2019: The inmates' lawsuit is dismissed.

Nov 2019: An investigator is charged with passing contraband to Dubose in prison.

Dec 2019: Dubose's trial is set for July 2020.

Feb 2021: Rowe's trial scheduled for April gets moved to August due to the coronavirus pandemic.

May 2021: Charges against the investigator accused of passing contraband to Dubose are dropped.

Aug 30, 2021: Jury selection for Rowe's trial starts in Grady County. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Sept. 24, 2021: Rowe found guilty on all charges in the murders of Georgia corrections officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica. 

Sept. 30, 2021: Jury sentences Rowe to life without parole. 

Feb. 16, 2022:  During a pretrial hearing, Dubose's legal team argued he has an intellectual disability that should take the death penalty off the table.

May 2022: Jury selection for Dubose trial begins.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Defense argues Ricky Dubose exempt from death penalty in 2017 prison guard murders due to intellectual disability

Donnie Rowe sentenced to life without parole for killing two Georgia corrections officers

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