Disturbing details emerge in double murder

911 calls, voice mails emerge in double murder case

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Chilling calls to 911 and disturbing details outline the moments after two mothers were shot and killed in a St. Johns County home in late August.

New discovery material was released in the case against James Colley Jr., the man charged with murdering his estranged wife, Amanda Cloaninger Colley, and her friend, Lindy Dobbins, at their Murabella home in August.

An intense manhunt started after the killings and James Colley was arrested the same night in Virginia and the state is now seeking the death penalty against him.

Investigators said he returned to the home he was living at with his father while he had been separated from his wife and inside the home investigators found 16 guns as well as blood spattered around the home.

They said James Colley Jr. took another car and headed out of town while authorities interviewed his mother who said she had seen her son not too long before the shooting when he had been on the phone with Amanda Colley.

"This look just came over his face. I've never seen that look before in my life," Judy Colley, James Colley Jr.'s mother, said.

Nearly 70 pages of documents and several discs, all containing information against James Colley Jr. were released documenting the moments shortly before the killings that day.

IMAGES: Crime scene photos

There were also voice mails released of James Colley calling his wife and leaving messages after he left the courthouse.

"Please talk to me. Please, Amanda," James Colley said. "I'm out of court. Please talk to me. Baby, I, please. This is the last time I am calling and begging you. Please."

Colley (pictured) was in court for violating a domestic violence injunction that Amanda Colley had gotten against him earlier in the month as part of the tumultuous divorce that they were going through.

According to the documents, Amanda Colley had reported that her estranged husband had broken into her house and trashed it. 

When asked about those marital problems, Judy Colley said that her son was upset over Amanda Colley going out at night.

"You know what, my husband would've beat the hell out of me. He wouldn't kill me, but he would've beat my a**. Maybe he should've done that and got that frustration out. I've been married 45 years and you know people don't work on their marriages like we did," Judy Colley said.

LISTEN: Judy Colley police interview

There is video from the crime scene that day and numerous 911 calls, including from two people who witnessed the shooting.

One of those people was Lamar Douberly, who, according to the documents, had been dating Amanda Colley for a few months. Once the gunshots started, Douberly ran out of the house and called 911.

LISTEN: 911 calls from Amanda Colley's murder

Lamar Douberly: "Shots were fired from the outside into the house, sliding glass through the window."
Operator: "Do you know who it was?"
Douberly: "I've got a great idea who it was."
Operator: "OK, are they still there?"
Lamar Douberly: "I don't know, I don't know. I left. I had to run."
Operator: "The gunshots didn't hit anybody, correct?"
Lamar Douberly: "No, they hit the back and then glass shattered everywhere. They hit the sliding glass window. I'm displaced. I think the shots were aimed at me."

LISTEN: Lamar Douberly 911 call

Rachel Hendricks was also in the home at the time of the shooting and managed to get to a neighbors house where she also called 911.

Operator: "And you saw him firing the gun?"
Rachel Hendricks: "Yes, I got grazed by a bullet."
Operator: "She says she got grazed by a bullet when he started firing. She ran to the neighbors."
Rachel Hendricks: "He point blank shot my friend that was right in front of me. I am scared to death for my life. He shot Amanda and he shot Lindy Dobbins, our other friend that was there with us."

LISTEN: Rachel Hendricks 911 call

The documents also outline what James Colley Jr. did right after the murders. They say his father, James Colley Sr. told police he got a call from his son saying he shot two people.

They say he told his father, "Dad, she's put me back in jail, I can't handle it anymore. It's over, she just won't let it go, so I did what I had to do. I can't go to prison, I shot two people."

After the shooting, Judy Colley told investigators she thought her son may have headed to the mountains of West Virginia where they had relatives and told police they may never find him.

Police eventually found James Colley Jr. in Virginia when a woman called 911 saying that a man was driving erratically and had been tailgating her.

Woman: "Yeah he is flying. I'm going 60, 65."
Operator: "So he is in front of you?"
Woman: "Yes, he will slam on his brakes, slam on his brakes."
Operator: "Norton be advised she's advising the subject passed her but he's trying to stop in the middle of the road in front of her."
Woman: "He has been stopped in the middle of the road, I had to stop, he was on me. I couldn't even. My kids are scared. Yeah, my mom had to sit in the back of my car to keep my kids calm. They're scared. And I have a newborn that's just four pounds."

LISTEN: Virginia police 911 call

Colley was eventually stopped by police and arrested in Virginia before being transported back to St. Johns County where he is currently awaiting trial. 

Crime scene photos of Colley double-murder


About the Authors:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.