Franklin Co. Man Pleads Guilty to Murder; Averting Trial

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

A Franklin County man accused in the murder of his mother and her dog will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Testimony in the trial for 40-year old John Robert Dye was to have begun Tuesday morning in Franklin County, but just before it started, Dye entered a blind guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Malcom.

A blind plea means he was not offered any plea deal by the District Attorney.

Dye pleaded guilty to felony murder, two counts of felony aggravated assault, one count of possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, and one count of aggravated animal cruelty.

During the sentencing phase, Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White outlined the facts of the murder of 61-year old Cynthia McCullough of Grady School Road in Lavonia.

White told the Judge that Dye had had a back crack cocaine habit that destroyed his marriage and caused the murder.

He said Dye would become enraged if he didn’t get his way and killed his mother when she wouldn’t give him money he wanted to use to buy more drugs.

Dye’s defense attorney, Harvey Wasserman, said Dye grew up in a dysfunctional home and was rejected by his father.

He said Dye turned to drugs as a result of that rejection, but said Dye could be rehabilitated and he asked Judge Malcom for life with the possibility of parole for his client.

Before sentencing Dye apologized for his actions, but admitted to killing his mother.

After a short recess, Judge Malcom sentenced Dye to life without parole on the murder charge, plus five years each on the aggravated assault charges to merge into the life sentence, five years on the possession of a knife charge and five years animal cruelty charge; both to run consecutively.

Dye was immediately escorted out of the courtroom.

Afterward, White said he and the family were satisfied with the Judge’s sentence.

“This is a case in which there there were aggravating factors and it may have been appropriate to go for the death penalty, but as Mr. Dye wanted to die, we didn’t believe it was appropriate to seek that punishment. We discussed it with the family and they were comfortable with the plea to the murder charge. They feel the same way I do that they want to see Mr. Dye live with this the rest of his life; which is, as he had already tried to end his own life, that he should not get an easy out, but that he should live everyday with the knowledge that he murdered his mother in cold blood.”

White said Dye had a long criminal history with 26 prior convictions in Georgia and six in North Carolina.

He has 30 days to file an appeal.