Man Convicted of Helping Burn Body of Missing Teacher Tara Grinstead
It took jurors little more than an hour to find a 34-year-old Georgia man guilty Thursday of covering up the 2005 killing of Tara Grinstead, a high school history teacher and former beauty queen.
PEOPLE confirms that Bo Dukes faces up to 25 years in prison after being convicted on four criminal counts: two counts for making a false statement, along with single counts of hindering the apprehension of a criminal and concealing the death of another.
Sentencing was scheduled for Friday morning, according to online court records.
Dukes was the first of two men to be tried for the 2005 killing of the beloved teacher and beauty pageant winner. Prosecutors said he helped cover up Grinstead’s murder by helping to burn her body — but he did not commit the killing itself.
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Dukes was arrested in 2017, along with his friend, Ryan Duke, who is formally charged with murdering Grinstead. His trial is set to begin April 1.
The two men are not related. Duke has pleaded not guilty to felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and burglary charges.
According to a videotaped confession that was played in court on Wednesday, Dukes told police the men let Grinstead’s body burn for days, until it was ash, after Duke allegedly enlisted his friend’s help in disposing of Grinstead’s body.
The two men allegedly brought Grinstead’s corpse to a nearby pecan orchard, where they allegedly set the body on fire.
Duke also allegedly confessed to killing Grinstead, telling police he broke into her residence to steal money for drugs. His attorneys have since called the confession false, saying it was provided at a time when Duke was heavily intoxicated.
Grinstead, 30 at the time of her murder, was last seen leaving a dinner party on Oct. 22, 2005.
She was a contestant in three Miss Georgia pageants. After her death, it took 11 years for police to make a break in the cold case.
RELATED: Second Man Arrested In Case of Georgia Teacher and Beauty Queen Missing Since 2005
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PEOPLE was unable to reach attorneys for Duke and Dukes on Friday morning.
