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Accomplice in Baker Co. double murder confesses to committing the murders

newsfinale.com 2024/11/4
Baker Co. double murder accomplice admits to doing the killings

Robert Trueblood, who is currently charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence, detailed the motive for committing the murders in a letter.

BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — A new court document has revealed that one of the three men charged in the 2022 Baker County ‘execution style’ double murder, confessed to detectives that he is the one who committed the killings.

The three men charged in the double murder of David “Daniel” Sigers and James Michael “Bo” Thomas are Curtis Austin, who was 16 at the time, Waylon Hannah, who was 19 at the time, and Robert Martin Trueblood, who was 25 at the time.

Sigers and Thomas were found dead from gunshot wounds in a home off Sawtooth Road in Macclenny on Aug. 1, 2022. Baker County Sheriff Scotty Rhoden described the killings as “an execution style murder.”

Rhoden previously told First Coast News that on July 30, 2022, two of the men charged in the crime entered the home Sigers and Thomas were in, located at 14671 Sawtooth Rd., when they shot and killed them and stole several guns. The sheriff did not specify which individuals entered the home out of the three charged.

Rhoden said the incident stemmed from a prior dispute between one of the suspects and either Sigers or Thomas. Additionally, Rhoden said the mother of one of the suspects charged was dating Thomas.

“This was a heinous act of violence that Baker County is not used to,” Sheriff Rhoden said at the news conference where the announcement of the arrests was made. “I ask the community to pray for the victims’ families. They are going to need it because it’s still a long process for this family. We will stand by them through this whole process.”

Trueblood’s bloody confession

In the court document, it states that on June 13, Trueblood submitted a request through the Homewav platform to speak to an investigator. Homewav is a website/platform used by inmates to make voice calls, video chats, and send text messages to friends and family, and it also allows inmates to submit grievances and requests to jail staff and detectives, according to the document.

“Hey detective Mancini I need to speak with you its urgent and about my case. I am aware of my rights to have an attorney present, I want to wave (sic) these rights and speak with you directly,” Trueblood said in the request.

On June 19, the document states that Trueblood met with two detectives of the Baker County Sheriff’s Office to make his confession. Before making it, Trueblood asked one of the detectives if he could “make him a guarantee of twenty-five (25) to thirty (30) years in prison for his cooperation/admission.”

When Trueblood began to read a two-page handwritten letter from his jumpsuit, according to the document, he said “he was the one who killed ‘Bo’ Thomas and Daniel Sigers, and that Curtis Austin and Waylon Hannah were not involved other than helping him get rid of the guns.”

“The letter detailed Trueblood’s motive for committing the murders, and the sequence of events at the time of the murders within the victims’ residence,” the document reads. “Trueblood claimed that he threatened harm to Austin and Hannah, as well as their families if they said anything about him committing the murders.”

After Trueblood finished reading the letter, a detective asked him if he had ever provided that amount of detail to anyone else before, to which he then said “no,” the document states.

The document also states that afterward, a majority of the statements, if not all made by Trueblood in the letter/interview, were previously made by Hannah, which was “submitted into evidence” and transcribed “within the full incident report.”

“Trueblood was adamant that the statement he had written was the truth,” the document says.

So, what now?

As it stands, Austin and Hannah, now 20, are currently both indicted on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, armed burglary, tampering with evidence, dealing in stolen property and grand theft of a firearm.

Meanwhile, Trueblood is currently charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence.

Trueblood and Hannah will have their next pre-trial court hearing on July 18, as the next court date for Austin is unknown since he’s a juvenile.

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