An Anderson County grand jury will consider murder charges against a couple who police say tortured and beat a homeless woman after luring her in to stay with them.
A judge ruled Friday in a preliminary hearing that there was probable cause to believe Sean Finnegan and Rebecca Dishman took part in the killing of 36-year-old Jennifer Gail Paxton.
Police found Paxton's partly dismembered body in August at an East Fairview Road home in Oak Ridge. They think she may have been killed around Christmas 2019.
Finnegan and Dishman subsequently were charged with kidnapping, torturing, raping, killing and dismembering Paxton.
Authorities have suggested they might seek the death penalty against the couple if they're indicted.
According to police records obtained by 10News, Dishman and Finnegan lured Paxton to the home under the promise of giving her a place to stay.
She was held against her will, attacked with a baseball bat, tortured and raped before being strangled and left for dead, according to the report.
Records show the victim was chained to a bed and hit in the head with a baseball bat before the suspects engaged in sexual acts with her against her will and eventually strangled her.
Dishman and Finnegan went on to cut off parts of Paxton's body before putting it in a freezer, according to police records.
Records show Finnegan also tried to take the body out of the freezer and hide it under the bed while he attempted to clean the freezer of evidence.
Dishman and Finnegan are in custody.