Man convicted in 2005 murder of Tara Grinstead pleads guilty to Houston County attempted rapes
Court records show Dukes agreed to plea deals on November 13, to settle charges he raped women in 2017 and 2019 after threatening them with weapons.
PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Bo Dukes, the man serving a 25-year prison term for concealing the death of Georgia teacher Tara Grinstead, pleaded guilty to reduced charges in two unrelated rape cases in Houston County. That’s according to the Associated Press. The deal lets him avoid additional prison time.
Court records show Dukes agreed to plea deals on November 13 to settle charges he raped women in 2017 and 2019 after threatening them with weapons. He agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault with intent to rape in both cases. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The plea deal allows the time Dukes serves for Grinstead’s death to also count toward the 10-year sentence he received for each reduced rape count.
In 2005, Grinstead vanished from her home in rural Irwin County. Her case remained unsolved for more than a decade until Dukes’ friend with a similar last name, Ryan Duke, told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation he strangled Grinstead and that Dukes helped him burn her body.
A jury convicted Dukes of concealing Grinstead’s death in 2019. After recanting his confession, Duke was convicted of the same charge in 2022 but was acquitted of murder. Additional charges related to Grinstead’s death are still pending in a neighboring county where the men burned her body in a pecan orchard.
