The suspect in a double murder case that occurred in Static, Tennessee just across the Clinton County line, has had his case bound over to the grand jury, and will continue to be held without bond.

Joshua Clay Pyles, of Monticello, was charged with the murder of father and son Dannie and Cody Dowdy on July 30, 2014, accused of entering the popular package store and bar, the Sugar Shack after closing hours and killing the two with a handgun.

According to an article in the Cookeville Herald Citizen newspaper this past Sunday, written by staff reporter Tracey Hackett, more details of the investigation were learned at the preliminary hearing held in Cookeville last Friday.

Some of those details were extremely gruesome.

According to that article, Pyles was reported to have told an agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that “No amount of money is worth what I’ve done,” after he was arrested the day following the investigation into the double murder case began.

Dannie Dowdy, 58, and Cody, 22, were co-owners of the Sugar Shack and were reportedly alone in the establishment going through closing procedures and preparing for the next day’s business when Pyles allegedly entered the business with a handgun and killed the two men.

According to Sunday’s article in the Cookeville newspaper, Pyles told authorities that he began considering committing a robbery when he began having financial difficulties and his son became ill.

After killing the two men, he told authorities he grabbed about $400 out of the cash drawer and fled the scene, but later began to feel remorse over what he had done and allegedly “threw it in the lake”.

During last week’s hearing, investigating officers testified that Pyles claimed to have panicked, first shooting Dannie Dowdy, then as his state of panic increased, he turned the gun on Cody Dowdy.

Pyles allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he “shot him again so he wouldn’t suffer,” then before leaving, shot Dannie Dowdy a second time as well.

Testimony during last week’s hearing was provided by TBI Special Agent Billy Miller, who said Pyles had made the statements the day after the discovery of the bodies of Dannie and Cody Dowdy.

During his testimony, Miller also said that Pyles said that “being put to death would be the only way to make amends” for what he had done.

Last week’s preliminary hearing had been delayed apparently because Pyles had waived preliminary hearings before, but is now being represented by a third attorney, who sought last week’s hearing for his client.

The Sugar Shack had been owned by the Dowdy family for several years, but was not always located in the exact spot where it is now, having been relocated a short distance from its original location during the reconstruction of U.S. 127.

The business, which was one of the more popular package establishments at Static, remains closed now, nearly a year and a half after the murders occurred.

The victims were well known in the area, on both sides of the state line, and several family members currently reside in Clinton County.

A large crowd of relatives and friends gathered in front of the Sugar Shack on the morning of July 20, 2014, as authorities began the investigation in the double murder of the owners of the Static, Tennessee package store, father and son Dannie and Cody Dowdy.