2 of 3 victims found dead at Georgia country club were bound, gagged, warrant says

Two of the three victims found dead at a Georgia country club were bound and gagged with tape, according to new details released Friday.

A warrant outlined some of the latest allegations against Bryan Anthony Rhoden, the suspect in a case that made national headlines after three bodies were found Saturday at the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Pro golfer Gene Siller, 46, a club employee, was found on the green of the 10th hole with an apparent gunshot wound to his head about 2:20 p.m. Siller was killed after having seen a crime involving Paul Pierson, 76, of Kansas, and Henry Valdez, 46, of California, Cobb County police said earlier this week.

“Mr. Siller happened upon a crime in progress involving the unknown suspect and the two deceased males who were found in the pickup truck,” a police statement said. “It does not appear he was in any way targeted, but rather was killed because he witnessed an active crime taking place.”

According to the warrant made public Friday, Rhoden used tape to bind “the hands, legs, and mouth” of Pierson and Valdez. He also drove a Dodge Ram as both men were in the bed of the truck, the document said.

July 9, 202101:23

That was the same vehicle police discovered on the green with the bodies of the two men. They had died from gunshots and were found in the Ram 3500’s bed, police said. The truck belonged to Pierson, according to authorities.

The warrant, however, did not shed light on how Rhoden encountered Valdez and Pierson, where they were killed or why they were in the Atlanta suburb. And it did not spell out a possible motive for their shootings. Neither Pierson nor Valdez appeared to have any connection to the country club, police said.

“We definitely feel confident there was no relationship between the shooter and Mr. Siller,” Cox said Thursday night.

Rhoden was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Chamblee, a city about 20 miles southwest of Kennesaw, by members of the Cobb County Sheriff’s fugitive unit, U.S. Marshals Service and the Chamblee Police Department, the sheriff’s office said.

He is being held in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on multiple charges, including three counts of murder, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping, officials said.

The investigation is ongoing.