PRESS RELEASE – After a seven day jury trial, today Defendant Johnny Ray Wilburn was found guilty of 38 counts of criminal conduct for the murder of a Walland family of three.

Marty, Kay, and Cas Farley were found murdered in their Payne Hollow home, which had been burned to ground.

District Attorney General Ryan Desmond, along with Assistant District Attorneys Tyler Parks and Tegan Couch, led the prosecution on charges stemming from a January 2025 investigation by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Divisions. Detective Sgt. Isaac Staley was the lead investigator.

A Blount County Jury sentenced Wilburn to Life Without the Possibility of Parole on the three murder charges. The Defendant will be sentenced on the remaining counts at a January 7th sentencing hearing. The jury also fined the defendant in the amount of $562,500.