After three hours of deliberation, a Macon County jury returned a guilty verdict following the trial last week of Barry Wayne Dunham, who was charged with the first degree murder of his father.

Barry Wayne Dunham was first arrested on May 6, 1997, and charged by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Jason Locke with first degree murder in the shooting death of his father Clinton Ray Dunham.

On April 24, 1997, the Sheriff's Department received a call at approximately 6:36 a.m. regarding a shooting at 96 Whitaker Circle, just outside the Red Boiling Springs city limits.

In an interview at the tome of the 1997 incident, Macon County Sheriff Joe Ferguson stated that when officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a victim identified as Clinton Dunham dead from what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head.

According to reports, the elder Dunham was found by his son (Barry Dunham) sitting on the sofa in the living room of his home.

A weapon, identified as a .30/.30, was found leaning near the back door of the home with unused cartridges scattered on the kitchen floor, which separated the living room and the back door.

At the time of his death, the elder Dunham was awaiting trial on first degree murder charges in connection with the January 16, 1997, shooting death of Joe Frank Newberry.

In October 1998, Dunham entered a plea of guilty to the charge of second degree murder in connection with the death of his father. At that time, Criminal Court Judge J.O. Bond sentenced Dunham to 25 years as a Range One Standard Offender. He was to serve his sentence with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

Dunham later filed paperwork for a retrial due t a paper work error that had occurred in his case.

After hearing information on the case, Judge Bond agreed that a new trial was in order.

This decisions was then appealed by the State Attorney General.

Judge Bond's original decision to grant Dunham a new trial was upheld by the State Appeals Court and Dunham was released from prison to wait for his new trial date.

The jury listened to four days of testimony before returning a verdict after three hours of deliberation. Dunham has been sentenced to life in prison with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.