Murder suspect has questionable past

Snell was the editor of the town’s local paper when Lynn’s first wife, Julie Johnson, died in 1989. He said he personally knew Johnson, but only knew Lynn through her and from around town. A request of Johnson’s autopsy report has been made with the GBI.

Metter is a small town, said Snell.

“We are smaller than Winder.”

Snell couldn’t recall any history of Lynn or Johnson in the news, except for an obituary after Johnson’s death, which he said he plans on retrieving from archives sometime this afternoon.

“We do not cover suicides here in South Georgia,” said Snell. “I doubt there is anything but an obituary. I thought about that this weekend. I went online and read all the stories. I don’t remember about him. I just remember him from being around here.”

In an initial search in its records database, the Candler County Sheriff’s Office failed to find Lynn in its system.

An employee in the records division said that she began working with the sheriff’s office in 1995 and “they were still booking by hand” at that time.

Investigator Justin Wells with the Metter Police Department said Monday that files dating back to 1989 are not archived, and a search for Lynn came up empty.

Wells said files in the current system go back to 2004.

On his Facebook page, Lynn lists a 1988 Industrial Electronics Degree from Swainsboro Technical College and a 1989 Electrical Technology Degree from the same school.

On Sunday, local authorities confirmed that the body found in an Auburn well on Friday was positively identified as Tonya Lynn by her family.

John Bankhead, spokesperson for the GBI, said that Tonya Lynn’s autopsy has been completed and local authorities must release the cause of her death. Detective Rachel Love of the Winder Police Department said Monday afternoon the cause of Lynn's death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said Lynn went before the magistrate judge Sunday. Bond was denied and Lynn will receive another bond hearing at a later date before a superior court judge. It is unknown at this time if he has legal council. He is being held in administrative segregation at the Barrow County Jail.

Tonya Lynn was reported missing on Wednesday by her niece Christa Royster.

Authorities received leads after Royster received an early morning text message from Tonya Lynn’s cell phone. The message requested that the relative take care of Lynn’s children. The phone was turned off when the relative tried to call back immediately after receiving the text.

Tonya Lynn's Chevrolet Tahoe was located at a nearby library from her house a few hours later and that is when the relative reported her missing.

Winder Police brought Lynn in for investigation on charges of obstruction Friday morning.

The GBI and Barrow County Sheriff's Office assisted in determining that the information Lynn gave police was false.

In the midst of the investigation, authorities were led to a female body located in a well off Etheridge Road, a short cut through road between Atlanta Highway and Mt. Moriah Road in Auburn. Tonya Lynn’s family identified her body Saturday.

Tonya Lynn worked at Athens Regional Medical Center and she and Jim Lynn had four children.

On Lynn's Facebook page, he is listed as a maintenance technician. His posted interests include coaching football, baseball and basketball and coaching my kids’ sports with his daughter, basketball and fast pitch softball.

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