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Woman claims to have witnessed Mayo murder
Bain Timmie.Jpg
BAIN

 

A woman who was sent to a mental hospital after claiming she witnessed a murder is now the state’s star witness in the murder case of Daniel Mayo – a man whose body is still missing after he was allegedly killed over two years ago.

 

"He shot him in the face," said Marie Parsley, recalling the night she claims she saw accused murderer Timmie Lee Bain, 49, shoot his roommate and co-worker with a shotgun outside the men’s apartment located on a hog farm near Mud Creek.

 

Parsley testified for the prosecution Tuesday afternoon during Bain’s preliminary hearing. Bain was bound to the grand jury on criminal homicide charges after the hearing.

 

Parsley told the court she had gone to Bain’s residence to deliver some food when she interrupted a loud argument between Mayo and Bain. She said they were drunk and yelling at each other and Bain was clutching a shotgun. Parsley, who has known the accused killer all of her life, said she tried to intervene and urged Mayo to get away.

 

"Man, you need to run," she told Mayo as he stood outside the secluded residence.

 

Mayo did not heed her advice and kept yelling back at Bain, she recalled. He went so far as to claim Bain didn’t know how to fire a gun. That’s when Parsley said Bain stepped outside and shot Mayo in the face from a distance of about 20 feet.

 

While witnessing the killing, Parsley said she wasn’t the only one there. She said four other people, including Bain’s son, showed up a short time later and helped clean up the murder scene.

 

"They cleaned up the blood and put the body in the pond," she recalled.

 

Parsley admitted she didn’t actually see the men throw the body into the pond but she did see the body floating in the pond a few days later and started to call authorities.

 

"You go to the police, I’ll kill you," she said one of the people who helped dispose of the body threatened her.

 

The men reportedly moved the body a short time later, hiding it elsewhere on the hog farm.

 

While the names of the three men and one woman who showed up at the farm shortly after the killing were given by Parsley, none of the others have been charged. Parsley has already reported the name of the conspirator who threatened to kill her. It is not known if prosecutors have negotiated their testimony or if they will be charged at a later date.

 

During cross examination by defense attorney Billy Tollison, Parsley said she told her sister about witnessing the murder and said she wanted to go to the police.

 

"She didn’t believe me and they put me in a mental hospital," Parsley testified, noting she spent 10 days in a mental institution where she was treated for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Parsley noted that while she was in the mental institution, she tried telling her doctors but they also did not believe her.

 

Sheriff’s investigator Bo Ramsey later testified that despite their best efforts, they have not found the murder weapon nor Mayo’s body. They will continue searching the hog farm for clues and remains.