A 26-year-old man has received three life sentences after pleading guilty to a 2021 shooting at a Kennesaw, Georgia, golf course.
According to prosecutors, Bryan Anthony Rhoden entered a negotiated plea to three counts of malice murder, seven counts of felony murder, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, three counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and tampering with evidence.
On July 3, 2021, Cobb County Police responded to the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw following reports of a shooting. Prosecutors say Rhoden drove a white truck onto the golf course’s 10th green, and he shot and killed Gene Siller, who had come to investigate the truck. The bodies of two other men, Paul Pierson and Henry Valdez, were discovered in the back of the truck.
Warrants were issued for Rhoden’s arrest in connection with the country club shooting shortly after the investigation began. With the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Cobb County Police detectives, discovered that Rhoden had a multi-million dollar drug empire.
Rhoden and Valdez met Pierson at an auto shop in Jonesboro, Georgia, where Pierson had been instructed to bring the marijuana. Rhoden held the two captive, used zip ties and duct tape to bind and gag them and then put them in the back of Pierson’s Ram 3500 truck.
Rhoden was apprehended during a sting operation, using money confiscated during his initial arrest by Chamblee police officers after a DUI traffic stop. He contacted the police to retrieve the money and was arrested.
On Feb. 2, Rhoden pleaded guilty to counts of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and also received two additional consecutive life sentences, to be served with five years and 12 months imprisonment.
“In the face of tragedy, justice prevailed today. We stand with the families whose lives were shattered by this senseless violence. The strength displayed by the victims’ families throughout this ordeal is both humbling and inspiring. Let this be a reminder of our continued mission to prosecute violent criminals and protect our community,” District Attorney Flynn D. Broady Jr. said in a news release.
