Winchester, TN — A Tennessee man was found guilty of murder and kidnapping in connection to the grim 2017 death of a Tullahoma man, whose lifeless body was discovered hanged from a tree in Franklin County. On Friday, a jury convicted 52-year-old Bryan Ray Dudley of first-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping.
David Steele, 33, was reported missing earlier in October 2017 before being found in a chilling scene on Oct. 26, hanging with gunshot injuries. Prosecutors in the 12th Judicial District, covering multiple counties including Franklin and Coffee, highlighted this case as notably brutal.
Dudley, the sole defendant to stand trial in Franklin County, is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 25. Meanwhile, five other accomplices, charged variably in Steele’s death, have previously entered guilty pleas, landing sentences ranging from eight to 25 years. Each guilty plea was part of a wider agreement collaborated with Steele’s grieving family, who provided impact statements at each hearing.
Miguel “Cino” Sanders, another suspect, is pending trial. Scheduled on Feb. 24 before a Coffee County jury, his charges include first-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping among others. These proceedings mark an end to a complex legal battle that spans over five years since Steele’s death first shocked this small community.
The investigation initially wove through multiple jurisdictions, hampered by confounding evidence that placed suspects in various locales. Dudley was first thought to be in Coffee County, but investigation later disproved this. “The confrontation began in Tullahoma, at a residence, then moved across county lines,” shared Steve Strain, deputy district attorney in the 12th Judicial District.
This horrific ordeal reportedly started over an altercation at Steele’s home near Dossett Apartments in Tullahoma, where he was forcibly taken and later shot in an attempt to escape. His abductors then transported him to Franklin County, where they finalized their heinous act.
Authorities determined Steele’s cause of death to be asphyxiation, worsened by the gunshot wound, according to a 2017 autopsy. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, along with local detectives, located Steele’s body near the intersection of Spring Creek Road and UTSI Road, close to the University of Tennessee Space Institute.
David Steele was remembered in his obituary as a devoted father of four, a skilled handyman, and a general contractor who relished outdoor activities like fishing and hunting with his children.
The conviction and upcoming trials close a painful chapter for Steele’s family and the Tullahoma community, reflecting the protracted path of justice in confronting such a multifaceted and distressing case.