Sheriff: Inmate accused of killing corrections officers had homemade key hidden in hair

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. — Investigators say they found a homemade key on an inmate accused of murdering two corrections officers.

The sheriff told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that the key, found on Christmas Eve, was likely for handcuffs.

Winne was in the courtroom Friday as Ricky Dubose faced a judge and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge against him.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told Winne that investigators found a homemade key hidden in Dubose’s hair. Sills said he caught wind of the situation through an official channel with the Georgia Department of Corrections.

“So he’s continuing in the same behavior as he has before, if the allegations are true?” Winne asked Sills.

“Yeah, certainly,” Sills said.

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“You concerned the homemade key allegedly found in Ricky Dubose’s hair might’ve been used to unlock handcuffs?” Winne asked Sills.

“Well, there's no other purpose for it,” Sills said.

Sills said the homemade key is especially concerning considering Dubose and fellow inmate Donnie Rowe are being housed in the state prison in Jackson, accused of killing two corrections officers during an escape last June.

The Department of Corrections sent Winne a statement saying:

"We can confirm that a homemade key was discovered in Ricky Dubose’s hair on Christmas Eve. As this incident is under investigation, we cannot release any more details." 

Rowe has yet to appear in court on his murder indictment, but Sills said he is planning a trip to Florida next week to investigate previous escape allegations against Rowe in that state.

Meanwhile, the sister of fallen officer Sgt. Curtis Billue said she has gotten support from all over the country after the death of her brother.

“We have thousands of cards from all over the United States. People we have never met. Passed on to you through the Department of Corrections,” Denise Billue told Winne. “The one message that we have gotten from all of this is that good does override evil.”

Billue said she draws comfort from other handwriting on messages sent along with other cherished items after her brother and fellow state corrections Sgt. Christopher Monica were killed.

Denise Billue told Winne that her faith has been her anchor through this ordeal.

“I know that Jesus had to go to the cross. And on that dark morning of June 13, when Curtis was in the valley, he also had to go to the cross, there was no way around it,” Billue said.

Another sister, Carol Billue, told Winne that she still has a lot of questions about the investigation.

"We are taking this killing too lightly. Two people are dead, buried in the cemetery. What really happened on that transport bus on June 13, 2017, in Eatonton, Georgia in Putnam County? The dots are not connecting. Pieces of the puzzle do not fit," Carol Billue said in a statement.

Cox Media Group