A Roane County grand jury will consider murder charges against two men accused of strangling a man in December with a seat belt.
Roane County General Sessions Court Judge Terry Stevens bound the case over after hearing proof Tuesday against Casey Ridenour and Sam Cook.
The men are accused of killing Aaron Brown, whose body was found Dec. 9 in the Little Emory River off a boat ramp. According to documents, the men killed Brown over a drug debt.
The men are being held in the Roane County Jail, according to District Attorney General Russell Johnson. Authorities charged them with second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan of the Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville testified Brown was strangled with a seat belt.
According to court records, Cook was in the car during the strangling and did nothing to stop it. Both men then dumped Brown's body in the water, according to records.
Prosecutors Bob Edwards and Jonathan Edwards conducted the hearing for the prosecution; attorneys Matt Courteau and Steve McGrath represented the defendants.
The grand jury next meets in June.
The case was investigated by Art Wolf and John Harold Mayes of the Roane County Sheriff's Office.