KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — The man long suspected of helping kidnap and murder a young Knoxville couple out on a date in January 2007 returned to court for a pre-trial status hearing.
Boyd appeared in court Thursday handcuffed and clad in a black and white striped jumpsuit.
The state and defense discussed a motion to suppress evidence, including identification of a vehicle at the scene of the crime.
The state argued the evidence would prove Boyd was present the night of the crime. The judge did not make a decision on that today.
A Knox County Grand Jury indicted Boyd on 36 counts, including first degree felony murder, more than 11 years after the murders.
Boyd is set to stand trial in Knox County Criminal Court on Aug. 5, 2019, in what will likely be at least a two-week trial.
Boyd is currently serving a federal sentence now for harboring ringleader Lemaricus Davidson.
Four people including Lemaricus Davidson are in prison in the 2007 attack of Channon Christian, 21, and Chris Newsom, 23. They were carjacked from a Knoxville apartment complex and forced to go to Davidson's small rental house where Newsom was shot and killed and Christian was raped and died after being covered in trash bags and put in a trash bin.
Davidson, the ringleader, is on death row in Nashville. His brother Letalvis Cobbins is in prison for the rest of his life. George Thomas and Vanessa Coleman are serving prison sentences for lesser roles in the crimes.
Authorities have long suspected Boyd, a friend of Davidson's, took part in the kidnappings and killings. In March 2018, the Knox County district attorney general sought and secured murder and kidnapping indictments against Boyd.
Christian was a 21-year-old West Knoxville resident and a senior majoring in sociology at the University of Tennessee.
Newsom was a 23-year-old Halls resident, a former high school baseball stand-out and a carpenter.