Previous charges against a man indicted this year for a 1982 murder may keep him in jail even though a judge set a $250,000 bond for him Tuesday.
Defendant Mac Ray McFarlane, also known as Randy Ray McFarlin, 49, of Bristol, Va., was charged May 1 with the 1982 murder of former co-worker Errastus Gene Stump, 32, of La Vergne. Stump disappeared March 29, 1982. Two fishermen found his body April 28, 1982 near Percy Priest Reservoir.
Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin, who arrested McFarlane with Lt. Bill Sharp of the Cold Case Unit, testified Tuesday McFarlane is wanted in New York to serve a recommended 11-month and 29-day sentence for a child sex conviction. Also, McFarlane is wanted in Virginia on a charge of a being a convicted felon in possession of firearms. He is also wanted for a violation of probation charge after a DUI conviction in 2007 in Florida.
After the hearing, Goodwin said McFarlane has a hold on him from other states so he could not be released on bond yet.
During the bond hearing, Assistant District Attorney Paul Newman asked Goodwin about McFarlane’s criminal record.
Goodwin said McFarlane served a seven-month sentence for armed robbery of a La Vergne store in 1981.
Defense attorney Luke Evans asked if he retained any physical evidence from the scene.
Goodwin said he did not, but added later he had statements from three of McFarlane’s wives that he admitted killing Stump. Two are divorced and the third wife may still be going through a divorce against him.
In arguments, Evans noted the prosecutors had the statements from three wives.
“As your honor knows, hell hath no fury like a woman,” Evans told Circuit Court Judge James Clayton.
Clayton replied with a laugh, “no I don’t know that.”
Evans said he needed McFarlane released to help in his defense.
Newman countered McFarlane didn’t have any ties to Rutherford County, lived outside the stat and didn’t give any status on a job.
“That’s a big mystery that he wants you to gamble on,” Newman said.
In his ruling, Clayton set a $250,000 bond based on McFarlane’s criminal history and the other charges he faces.
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