Update: 2 arrested in slayings of missing men

Posted in Related Deaths

12-18-2009 Alabama:

GADSDEN, AL (WAFF) – Etowah County Sheriff's Department will hold a press conference Thursday morning to discuss information on the human remains found believed to be those of two missing men and the Attalla couple arrested in connection with the slayings.

Investigators said Robert Wayne Kelley, 35, has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of James Bachelor, 38, and Rocky Morgan, 55. His estranged wife, Margie Morgan Kelley, 35, was charged with first-degree hindering a criminal investigation.

Etowah County officials did not disclose a motive in the deaths, but said that the Kelley's knew the two men.

According to the Etowah County Sheriff's Department, the bodies thought to be those of Bachelor and Morgan were found near Center Road in Attalla. That location was pinpointed by evidence recovered during their investigation, authorities said.

Bachelor and Morgan had not been seen for a week. Both men were last seen heading to Marshall County for a fishing trip.

"After they have been missing for several days, a family member came concerned and brought it to the attention of the sheriff's office," said Etowah County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Natalie Barton.

Investigators said the location where the remains were found is believed to be a random disposal site for the bodies.

Bachelor was a registered sex offender, but investigators said the deaths don't appear to be related to his sex offender status.

"It was pertinent information, we first believed, when they were just missing, but we don't believe it has anything to do with them being deceased," Barton said.

Investigators with Alabama's Department of Forensic Science will examine the pieces of remains to try to conclusively identify the bodies. ..Source..

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Burned bodies double murder in Etowah County: Cadaver dogs to help search

12-18-2009 Alabama:

ETOWAH COUNTY, Ala. -- Cadaver dogs are expected to help search a field where burned remains of two men have been found south of Attalla in Etowah County, investigators tell the Gadsden Times.

The biggest piece of bone found so far is about 4 inches, Sheriff Todd Entrekin said in a news conference Thursday. The burned remains are believed to be those of Rocky Morgan, 55, and his nephew, James Bachelor, 38, Entrekin said.


Morgan's daughter, Margie Morgan Kelley, 35, is charged with hindering prosecution, and her husband, Robert Wayne Kelley, 35, is charged with 2 counts of capital murder, Etowah County District Attorney Jimmie Harp told the Gadsden Times.

Robert Wayne Kelley was arrested by sheriff's investigators late Wednesday at a local hospital after he went there earlier in the week.

The men were reported missing on Dec. 11 and were last seen on Dec. 2 where they lived at Rocky Morgan's home on Rocky Hollow Road, Entrekin said.

It is believed the men were shot and killed at the Rocky Hollow Road home, left there for several days, then taken in a van during a period of a few days about three miles to the field on Center Road, just off U.S. Highway 11, Entrekin said.

..Source.. by Press-Register staff