JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A jailed man whose home had buried human remains found in the front yard had a trial date set Tuesday for charges of aggravated assault, assaulting police officers and other offenses.
Russell Tillis, 54, pleaded no contest in February to violating an injunction and threatening a neighbor. Tillis was sentenced to an additional 95 days behind bars. He was given credit for his time served since his arrest in 2015.
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After nine felony convictions and going behind bars four times, Tillis' past charges include incidents of exposing himself, harassing neighbors and assaulting police.
Tillis has been in jail since May 2015. Police said that when officers went to his home to serve the arrest warrants, Tillis came at the officers with two knives. His trial on those charges is set for Aug. 8.
Tillis, who was representing himself, filed a motion in February to suppress evidence in the case, but it was denied. He has since asked for a public defender and was appointed one.
Jacksonville police are still working to identify the remains found in the yard of Tillis' home on Bowden Circle East on February 10, 2016. Investigators said it's the body of a white woman who would have been in her teens to age 30. They said she would have had shoulder-length brown hair when she died.
Those were the only remains found at the property after police searched a week. News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said investigators are certain there are no more remains in the yard.
"They didn't want to leave any stone unturned," Smith said. "The fact that they (police) are gone, tells me they really checked this area with a fine-toothed comb."
Smith said the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office used many different techniques to search the property, including devices like a Caterpillar crane and a ground-penetrating radar.
Neighbors told police Tillis' home was booby-trapped with razor wire and hidden pieces of wood with nails sticking up. With the traps cleared and the remains of one person found, JSO is now trying to connect the dots.
"They want to make sure they can examine those remains, try to get an understanding of how this person may have died, match that up with the suspect's criminal history to see if the person died the same way he may have attacked other people," Smith said.
JSO is awaiting word from the medical examiner on the identity of the woman and how she died.