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Two men charged with murder in Effingham couple's deaths
Kilgore, Mullinax denied bond Monday
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DAWSONVILLE — A Dawsonville man faces an additional murder charge after authorities pulled the body of Paul Budrawich from the Amicalola River in western Dawson County on Monday morning.

His wife, Jennifer Budrawich, 22, was found dead in the river Sunday afternoon, a day after authorities received a frantic 911 call from a woman saying she was going to be shot.

Lt. Tony Wooten, a spokesman for the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed Monday afternoon that both Jennifer and Paul Budrawich were killed with a small caliber handgun near Amicalola Church Road in western Dawson County over the weekend.

Jesse James Kilgore, who is the father of one of Jennifer Budrawich’s three young children and is now married to her mother, is expected to be charged in the double homicide.

Kilgore, 40, was taken into custody along with his nephew Benjamin Kelly Mullinax, 27, of Dawsonville, Sunday afternoon.
Mullinax was booked on charges he tampered with evidence, according to jail records.

Both were charged with murder and denied bond Monday afternoon.

Authorities say Kilgore shot the couple and dragged their bodies into the river Saturday after he arranged a meeting with them at the Six Mile Creek canoe put-in off Amicalola Church Road.

The Budrawiches were in town for the holidays to visit her children, who live with relatives in Dawson and Pickens counties.
Jennifer Budrawich’s Dec. 15 post on the social networking site myspace.com states she was thinking “about my babies. I miss them so much.”
Budrawich was the mother to Alex, age 4, Paul, age 2, and Carson, 9 months.

They were scheduled to see the children around 11 a.m. Saturday, but did not show for the visitation, according to Lt. Wooten.
Wooten said the children are safe and in the care of relatives.

The Budrawiches left their McCall Road home around 5:30 a.m. Friday, headed to Dawsonville to see Jennifer’s son and then to Jasper to visit their two children.

According to Effingham County Sheriff’s incident reports, Paul Budrawich’s family received a text message  from his phone and pictures on a MySpace page that showed the Budrawiches with the children. But Paul’s relatives told investigators they believed the pictures appeared to be fabricated.

The report also states that Jennifer’s mother received a phone call at 8 a.m. Saturday morning that Jennifer and Paul were about five minutes away from their visitation appointment.

The 911 call was received by authorities at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, which launched an investigation into the disappearance of Budrawich and her husband.

A woman’s voice can be heard on the recording asking, “Why are you shooting us? Why did you bring me down here to the river?”

The couple’s car was found in the parking lot of the IGA grocery store in neighboring Pickens County around 11 p.m. Saturday.
Evidence obtained from the car and a truck in Dawson County, as well as video surveillance from the grocery store, led investigators to Kilgore.

Both Kilgore and Mullinax are in custody pending first appearance hearings in Dawson County Magistrate Court.
Wooten said he expects the hearings to be held today.

Kilgore, who spent time in prison on a felony theft conviction, is no stranger to Dawson County authorities.

He was one of three Dawsonville men arrested in June when authorities recovered thousands of dollars of stolen goods taken earlier in the year from two homes in Dawson County.

Kilgore, his son Jessie Archie Kilgore, 19, and James Adam Rogers, 30, are accused of taking household fixtures, appliances and furniture to furnish a home the elder Kilgore was building in western Dawson County.

All three were indicted in September on numerous theft charges.