JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The attorney for a man charged with murder in the death of a woman whose dismembered body was found buried in his yard has asked the court to keep detectives from talking to his client.
Russell Tillis, 55, appeared in Duval County court Wednesday morning on charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, abuse of a dead body and tampering with evidence.
Tillis was already awaiting trial on charges of assaulting two police officers at his Southside home when the body of Joni Lynn Gunter was found in the home's yard last February. Months later when the body was identified through DNA analysis, Tillis was charged with Gunter's murder.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Tillis attacked two officers in May 2015 with knives as they served him with arrest warrants for threatening a neighbor and violating an injunction. Police said Gunter died of blunt-force trauma sometime between February 2014 and when Tillis was arrested.
Tillis, who has been through multiple attorneys since his arrest, was approached by detectives in December, after Gunter's remains were identified, but he said he made it clear he wouldn't speak to them and was invoking his right to remain silent. Tillis' current attorney, Kevin Carlisle, said Tillis was taken to the Police Memorial Building for questioning against his will and that's why he filed a motion for a protective order asking that homicide detectives not be allowed to question Tillis again while he's in jail.
Carlisle said that because Tillis “may be suspected in future crimes,” detectives should not be permitted to contact him and that Tillis would not be making statements to law enforcement going forward.
When they announced the murder charges in December, police also said they believe that Tillis could have abused or killed other young women, particularly drug abusers, prostitutes or women who weren't in regular contact with family, who wouldn't be missed.
The judge said he would rule on the protective order motion this week.
Local defense attorney Gene Nichols, who isn't associated with the Tillis case, said a filing of this kind isn't that unusual.
"It's the lawyer's way to make sure that if their client is going to potentially face anything else, even if they've only been appointed for that case, they will be present for any other pending investigation," Nichols said. "It's absolutely a signal that there may be something else out there."
Tillis will be in court again Feb. 2. He remains in Duval County jail without bond.