State prosecutor Mike Taylor comments on the decision of guilt from Michelle Martin Wednesday outside the Bledsoe County Courthouse.The suspect - or suspects - sought in a Bledsoe County, Tenn., double-slaying investigation remains at large, but authorities say there's no indication a random killer is on the loose.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Bledsoe County Sheriff's Office detectives continue to probe for clues leading to whoever killed 41-year-old James Songer and 49-year-old Robbin Martin sometime between the end of a Fourth of July concert Monday night and 5:50 p.m. CDT Tuesday in nearby Dunlap.
Police were notified Tuesday by a passerby who spotted Songer's body in the yard of the couple's mobile home on Brockhollow Road in South Bledsoe County. Deputies found Martin's body inside the home.
"So far, the TBI has not given any indication that there's a random killer prowling around on the mountain," 12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor said Thursday. "Of course, you can never rule anything out."
TBI officials on Thursday wouldn't add to the comments they made Wednesday.
Taylor said TBI agents say "they do not think robbery was the motive," again noting the investigation was in only its second day.
On Thursday, agents were interviewing people who live on the mountain near the couple's home, Taylor said. The home is about 10 miles southwest of Pikeville, Tenn., in a sparsely populated, rural area of Bledsoe County.
So far, no weapons have been found and investigators have not determined whether Songer or Martin knew their killer.
Meanwhile, authorities are still waiting for preliminary autopsy findings. Their bodies were sent Tuesday night to Nashville for a forensic examination.
Anyone with any information about the deaths of James Songer and Robbin Martin should call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 800-TBI-FIND or 800-824-3463.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/BenBenton, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or at 423-757-6569.