KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Grainger County grand jury returned a four-count indictment against a Morristown man on Aug. 28, accusing him of killing two people and dismembering their bodies.
Aaron White, 34, is accused of killing Jonathan "Jon" W. Atkins and Deven McDaniel on or about May 23 in Bean Station, records said. Authorities discovered their cut-up bodies a couple days later on property on Rocky Springs Road, warrants state.
On Aug. 28, a grand jury indicted White on four counts, including two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse. He's
White was arrested in early July at his home on Dublin Lane in Morristown. He'd been sought since the killings.
White was initially arraigned on criminal homicide charges, according to the Grainger County General Sessions Court Clerk's Office.
The Grainger County Sheriff's Office and the TBI worked on the case. The Regional Forensic Center handled the autopsies.
According to warrants, White had been at the place where the victims' bodies were found at 1181 Rocky Springs Road. Atkins lived nearby in a mobile home on Rocky Springs Road.
A banking document listing White's account was discovered "near where the bodies were dismembered after their death," warrants state.
In addition, "Physical evidence related to the (killings)...was discovered inside a secured and alarmed residence on the property to which (White) had free access," warrants state.
White's cell phone records also showed his phone had connected to a cellphone tower less than a mile from the scene of the killings at the time the men were killed.
White shot the men, after which their bodies were dismembered, authorities allege.
Records don't explain what if any relationship White had to the victims or why he wanted them dead.
The defendant indicates in court records that he has no cash, with his biggest asset being a 1996 Dodge Dakota. He asked for a court-appointed lawyer.
Corey Bowers told WBIR he knew both men and was friends with McDaniel. Bowers said he was glad White was in custody.
"The whole community was wondering the whole time while he was on the loose -- could he strike again?" Bowers said.
He said McDaniel was a talented and giving person who would readily help someone in need. He was looking after Atkins because Atkins recently had been in a bad car crash. Atkins used a cane, Bowers said.
Bowers said he thought McDaniel probably was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"It was tragic what happened to him," he said.
The victims' families deserve closure, he said.
"As brutal as it was, it's taken them a long time to get everything together where the families could have some closure on the whole deal and have a funeral and everything and celebrate their life," he said.