Overview
- A Warren County grand jury returned a two‑count indictment charging 62‑year‑old Randy Lane McAllister with aggravated murder and murder in the October 1985 death of traveling salesman John Christopher Warren.
- Detectives say they reopened the cold case in 2019 and submitted items recovered from three scenes for modern forensic testing, which investigators say identified McAllister and a now‑deceased accomplice as suspects.
- Investigators recovered some of Warren’s belongings behind a Cracker Barrel in Dalton, Georgia, and his 1985 Oldsmobile in Redington Beach, Florida, creating a multi‑state evidence trail that fed the renewed inquiry.
- McAllister was arraigned Tuesday, July 7, pleaded not guilty, and a judge set bond at $500,000 after prosecutors described the killing as involving extreme violence and alleged it occurred during an aggravated robbery.
- Prosecutors have not publicly detailed the specific forensic findings that linked McAllister to the crime, and the case will proceed through pretrial steps as detectives and the prosecutor continue to build their record.