Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Calls From The Inside: Killing the Competition’ depicts the gruesome murder of 27-year-old Kenny Bunn near Murray County in Georgia in March 2020. Since the body bore no identification mark, it posed a stiff challenge for the investigators, but they cracked the case with their diligence within a quick couple of days.
How Did Kenny Bunn Die?
Kenneth “Kenny” Eugene Bunn was born to Jeff Bunn and Trenna Wilson in Dalton, Georgia, on June 14, 1992. His mother, Trenna, and his grandmother, Pat Colvard, reminisced how Kenny was a quiet and introverted child. He lived with his grandmother, whom he called “Meemow,” and Pat fondly remembered that Kenny was a “Meemow’s boy.” His friend, Rachael McNeil, recounted how she met Kenny in sixth grade, and their friendship blossomed into a brief relationship.
According to Rachael, Kenny was very different from the boys around the neighborhood – he was shy and had an affinity toward dark clothes, music, and poetry. She stated on the show how Kenny once told her he faced abuse as a child, and Rachael assumes it to be the primary reason behind his depression and lack of social skills around new people. Trenna stated how her ex abused her son, and though she did not know the extent of the abuse, she also blamed it for Kenny being depressed.
She recalled that Kenny harbored a suicidal tendency and how she had to return early from work multiple times to be with her son to help him through his depression. Hence, Trenna was frantic when one of Kenny’s friends called her at work to inform her that a body had been found off Carlton Petty Road near the bridge where the road crossed the Conasauga River on the Murray County side on March 17, 2020. She recounted on the show how she had a gut feeling that something had gone wrong and immediately called Pat.
When Pat told her that Kenny was not with her, Trenna asked her to instantly call the police and inform them about Kenny’s disappearance. Four young Tennessee fishermen had discovered the boy early in the morning while fishing at the spot. They called 911, and the unidentified body was fished out from the river and taken to the GBI lab for an autopsy. The victim had been shot four times, once in the head, using a small caliber gun.
Who Killed Kenny Bunn?
Since the perpetrators had taken away the cell phone, the victim’s body had no identification. However, Kenny’s grandmother called to report him missing, and officers reached her place to get a description. When they showed her the victim’s glasses, the grandmother identified them as Kenny’s. His mother went down to the station and positively determined the body belonged to her son. The detectives learned about Kenny’s suicidal tendencies, but the autopsy report determined the manner of death as a homicide.
As the police began their investigation, they learned from Kenny’s family that he had gone out to meet his ex-girlfriend, Nadya Catherine Swartz of Crandall, on the evening of March 16. District Attorney Bert Poston stated Kenny and Nadya had been in a relationship in 2019, but she broke up with him and started dating Justin Payton Hooker of Dalton. Media reports commented how this caused a significant tiff between Kenny and Justin, and Bert underlined how Justin had allegedly even threatened to kill Kenny once.
However, the couple denied any involvement with the murder. But the case cracked open when one of Justin’s relatives called the police and told them about selling a gun to Justin. The relative was worried that he might have been involved after learning about Kenny’s murder from the news. Four days after the murder, the authorities arrested Nadya and Justin and charged them with Kenny’s murder.
According to the investigators, Nadya reached out to Kenny on the night of March 16 and invited him to meet her at a secluded spot under the pretext of them getting back together. However, when they reached there, she got into a bitter argument with Kenny, and Justin fired at him four times. The detectives are unsure whether Kenny was apprised about Justin already being there or whether the latter traveled with Nadya or was waiting at the prearranged spot.
According to Nadya’s court testimony, she and Justin had left after the murder but came back sometime after to retrieve Kenny’s phone since she had used it to play music earlier and feared her fingerprints may have been on it. After being arrested on murder charges, Nadya confessed to the police about devising the murder plot to kill Kenny. However, Justin continued denying any involvement until a fellow inmate came forward and stated Justin had confessed to him about shooting Kenny out of self-defense as he was strangling Nadya.
Nadya Swartz and Justin Hooker Are Behind Bars Today
Police records showed that Kenny’s phone was never recovered, and Justin informed the officers they had disposed of the gun in a dumpster at the Big Lots in Dalton. Justin pleaded guilty to the murder charges on March 10, 2021, and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Nadya entered her guilty plea on March 31 and was given the same sentence.
According to court records, both convicts have to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before being eligible for parole consideration. Official inmate records state Justin, in his mid-20s, is serving his sentence at the Coastal State Prison in Savannah, near Garden City. Nadya, also in her mid-20s, is incarcerated at the Pulaski County Correctional in Hawkinsville, Georgia.
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