Robert Brandon Lewis Keller appeared Jan. 15 in Bulloch County Superior Court for his arraignment on a 10-count indictment on murder and other charges for the October 2024 stabbing death and alleged carjacking of Bruce William Dupree. Keller, 31, had a not-guilty plea entered for him to all charges.
In what a prosecutor described as “a brutal murder case,” Dupree, 40, from Metter, was found on the median of Interstate 16 in western Bulloch County, reportedly with his throat cut in a “disfiguring” way.
Keller’s arraignment, a formal reading of the charges and opportunity to enter a plea, was heard by new Ogeechee Superior Court Judge Matthew K. “Matt” Hube, in one of the cases he takes over from Judge F. Gates Peed, who retired at year’s end. This is also one of the first homicide cases moving forward with prosecutors from the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office since new District Attorney Robert Busbee took office Jan. 1 after defeating former District Attorney Daphne Jarriel Totten in last May’s Republican primary.
However, the case began last fall and proceeded to a grand jury indictment in December.
Originally ‘crash alerts’
Law enforcement involvement began around 8:30 p.m. Oct. 14 when the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office received several “crash alerts” along I-16. But deputies and officers drove up and down both eastbound and westbound lanes of the highway without finding an actual crash, BCSO Capt. Todd Hutchens said during a press conference three days later.
But deputies did find a man lying in the median area of I-16 around Mile Marker 113. Unidentified at first, Dupree was attended to by the Emergency Medical Service but died at the scene.
While officers were trying to track down the origin of the crash alerts, a clerk at Pojo’s truck stop on U.S. Highway 301 South told them that a person who had come in and purchased a drink and other items had blood on his hands and blood on the cash he paid with, Hutchens said in October.
Deputies then found a 2021 Kia K5 sedan on the side of the highway north of Pojo’s, and upon checking, reportedly learned that it was registered to one of Dupree’s relatives.
Meanwhile, a clerk at the Patriot Inn, which is on U.S. Highway 301 just south of I-16 interchange, called to report that “a strange guy who matched the description” given by the Pojo’s clerk was walking around in the area of the motel, according to the account given by Hutchens last fall. Deputies across the highway at the Travel Centers of America station saw Keller run from the Patriot Inn, and apprehended him on the other side of U.S. 301 from the Patriot Inn, Hutchens said.
Authorities used a Rapid ID device to identify Keller using his thumbprint after he refused to tell deputies his name, according to the Sheriff’s Office’s account of the incident.
Keller was not staying at the Patriot Inn at the time. Hutchens said he was believed to be from North Carolina. The arrest warrant from Oct. 19 gave his address only as 17257 U.S. 301 North, Statesboro, which is that of the Sheriff’s Office and the Bulloch County Jail.
Among the arrest warrants obtained by the Sheriff’s Office in October, those charging Keller with murder alleged that he “stabbed Bruce William Dupree numerous times.”
The indictment, sought by the District Attorney’s office under previous D.A. Totten, was true-billed by the November term, 2024, Bulloch County grand jury. This means only that a majority of the grand jurors found probable cause for the charges to go to trial. It is not a determination of guilt.
Indictment’s charges
The 10 counts charged in the indictment are one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder and one count each of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle and possession of a knife during commission of a felony.
“Felony murder” means causing a death by committing another felony, and the four felony murder counts are based on the aggravated assault, aggravated battery, armed robbery and vehicle hijacking charges.
In the indictment, the wording of the malice murder charge alleges that Keller caused Dupree’s death “by cutting his throat with a knife or other sharp instrument,” and the wording of some of the felony murder counts is similar. But the aggravated battery charge alleges that the defendant harmed Dupree “by seriously disfiguring his neck or throat,” and the felony murder count related to that accusation contains similar language about cutting or stabbing him “and disfiguring his throat or neck.”
The armed robbery count alleges forcible theft of Dupree’s cellphone and the car.
Arraignment recapped
The Statesboro Herald did not have a reporter present at the Jan. 15 arraignment but followed up last week with the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office and the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office.
Keller appeared at the arraignment with Assistant Public Defender QueAndra Campbell as his defense attorney. In fact, Campbell represented the defendant during the arraignment and submitted his “not guilty” plea to all charges. In an email reply to the Herald, Lindsay Gribble, chief of staff to District Attorney Busbee, stated that Campbell did this “as the defendant is visually impaired.”
Another source had told the newspaper that Keller was visually impaired because he had harmed himself while in custody. Asked about this, Gribble stated, “It is true that the defendant harmed himself, which is also why APD Campbell wrote/submitted the (not-guilty plea) for him.”
Phoned about the case, Chief Public Defender Renata Newbill-Jallow confirmed that Campbell, on her behalf, “just entered a not-guilty plea and signed the indictment,” and that Keller “can’t see.” But when asked if this was because he had harmed himself, she said she couldn’t answer.
Newbill-Jallow agreed that it is still early in the process toward trial, with both sides having filed demands for discovery – to have the other side reveal its evidence and sources – right after the arraignment.
A preliminary bond hearing was held Dec. 5, but as Gribble reported and Newbill-Jallow confirmed, the Public Defender’s Office withdrew the motion for bond. Whether bond for Keller’s pre-trial release will be sought again in the future could be revisited by his defense attorney, said Newbill-Jallow.
Another assistant public defender, Quinton Wallace, who Newbill-Jallow called Campbell’s trial partner, signed one of the recent motions.
“Yes, we entered a not-guilty plea; yes, he had a preliminary hearing; yes (Campbell) withdrew the bond; and right now we are representing him. That’s all we have,” said Newbill-Jallow.
Time to trial unknown
Current dates on the case’s court schedule include an April 15 “plea calendar” date and May 7 “calendar call” with potential May 21 “jury selection,” but that doesn’t mean anything significant will happen for this specific case on these days.
Assistant District Attorney Jillian Gibson is prosecuting the case. Gibson “indicated that the timeline for trial will depend on several factors, including court schedules and Judge Hube’s priorities,” Gribble wrote. “From our side, no significant delays are expected, as we’re only waiting on a couple of pieces of evidence and have no pending items from the Crime Lab, which is often a source of delays.”
Regarding the charges, Gibson “mentioned that with the types of injuries the victim sustained this is a brutal murder case,” stated Gribble, as a spokesperson for the D.A.’s Office.
She said she had spoken to Busbee, who had been fully briefed and “shared that he has full confidence in Jillian’s ability to handle a case of this nature.”