2005 murder case of Tara Grinstead reaches a verdict (Image via Phil Holloway/Twitter)After a nine-day trial, on Friday, May 20, Ryan Duke was acquitted by a jury of murder in the 2005 death of school teacher and former beauty queen Tara Grinstead. However, he was sentenced on Monday to 10 years in prison for concealing the body of Grinstead.Ryan Duke was found not guilty of various charges that included malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and burglary. He was found guilty of concealing a death.Duke will receive credit for the five years he has already served since his arrest back in 2017.Years later - Ryan Duke's arrest and acquittalRyan Duke was acquitted of murder in Tara Grinstead's case (Image via Dr. Maurice Godwin/Twitter)In 2017 when he was first held, Ryan Duke admitted to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) that he had killed Grinstead. However, during the trial, when he was asked whether he caused Grinstead's death, Duke said, "I did not."In his statement to GBI, Duke stated that he broke into Grinstead's house to steal money for drugs. Duke further noted that he struck her because Grinstead startled him.Ryan Duke told the GBI agents:"She snuck up on me and I hit her. It was reactionary. I ran. I didn’t know what else to do." Once he ran, Duke said that he called Grinstead's house from a payphone, and when she didn't answer, he came to the scene to find her dead.But during the trial, Duke denied all this and instead presented a new story where he said that Bo Dukes, his former friend, killed Grinstead. "He killed Tara." He claimed that Dukes also showed him Grinstead's purse and wallet.Bo Dukes is serving 25 years in prison for burning Tara's body in 2005 (Image via Philip Holloway/Twitter)After a jury conviction in 2019, Bo Dukes was sentenced to 25 years in prison for helping Duke remove Grinstead's body from the house and burning it in a pecan orchard. Like Duke, he, too, denied killing Grinstead and wasn't charged with murder.After the verdict was announced, Attorney Philip A. Holloway, who closely followed the case for years in a report by Fox News Digital, said that the jury reached an "appropriate verdict" based on the evidence and testimony presented during the trial.The verdict drew mixed reactions and was evident across several Twitter reactions.Jeffrey Pangle@_PNGL_The state had an EXTREMELY weak case for murder charges against #RyanDuke. I’m glad the jury did the right thing here. They would’ve had a better case by charging Bo Dukes with the murder. #TaraGrinstead #RyanDukeTrial552The state had an EXTREMELY weak case for murder charges against #RyanDuke. I’m glad the jury did the right thing here. They would’ve had a better case by charging Bo Dukes with the murder. #TaraGrinstead #RyanDukeTrialCharlie@CharlieBayer8Just finished Ryan Duke's testimony. Now, everything makes sense. To not believe him, one would have to believe that he's a mastermind who pulled off an elaborate story that happens to fit the evidence perfectly. Respectfully, Ryan doesn't seem capable of that. #TaraGrinstead twitter.com/CharlieBayer8/…Charlie@CharlieBayer8This Ryan Duke testimony. I completely believe him and have the same sick feeling as watching his confession. It's interesting he's making the same head nods as his confession as if he's still in some type of shock. I am horrified. Bo Dukes is a monster. #TaraGrinstead331This Ryan Duke testimony. I completely believe him and have the same sick feeling as watching his confession. It's interesting he's making the same head nods as his confession as if he's still in some type of shock. I am horrified. Bo Dukes is a monster. #TaraGrinsteadJust finished Ryan Duke's testimony. Now, everything makes sense. To not believe him, one would have to believe that he's a mastermind who pulled off an elaborate story that happens to fit the evidence perfectly. Respectfully, Ryan doesn't seem capable of that. #TaraGrinstead twitter.com/CharlieBayer8/…crybaby carl@pegginmothmanI’m not surprised Ryan Duke was found not guilty but my heart hurts for Tara Grinstead’s family. I hope one day we can find out the truth61I’m not surprised Ryan Duke was found not guilty but my heart hurts for Tara Grinstead’s family. I hope one day we can find out the truthCatherine Everett@cdr226@PhilHollowayEsq I watched every second of this trial. I don't think we will ever truly find out the truth of what happened that fateful night to Tara Grinstead but but there was sufficient reasonable doubt as to Ryan's guilt as to her murder. The Merchants did a tremendous job in defending Ryan.271@PhilHollowayEsq I watched every second of this trial. I don't think we will ever truly find out the truth of what happened that fateful night to Tara Grinstead but but there was sufficient reasonable doubt as to Ryan's guilt as to her murder. The Merchants did a tremendous job in defending Ryan.The truth shall set you free30-year-old school teacher Tara Grinstead went missing in 2005 (Image via TrueCrimeSociety/Twitter)After Grinstead failed to show up to school on October 24, 2005, her friends and neighbors knew something was wrong.She lived on the street from downtown Ocilla, and when the cops visited her place, there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Even her Halloween decorations were still in place.However, when the officers checked in front of Grinstead's house, they found a latex glove. In a report by CBS, former GBI Special Agent-in-charge Gary Rothwell was quoted saying:"It appeared that Tara may have left on her own. However, we had a glove, a latex glove that we couldn't explain. So that gave us a stronger indication that something bad had happened."The glove was sent to a lab for testing, where along with Grinstead's, the DNA of an unknown male was also identified. Decades went by, and there was no answer to what happened to Grinstead. Officers undertook a thorough investigation, where they examined her dating life and chased down leads across the country. Unfortunately, there were no suspects in this case.Then, in an interview with GBI, Bo Dukes told them that Ryan Duke had killed Grinstead and dumped her body in a pecan orchard owned by the Dukes' family. He then stated that they burned Grinstead's body in the orchard over two days.In 2019, Bo Dukes first went on trial, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 2017, Ryan Duke was arrested as well following his confession. However, after all the drama and the current verdict, neither has been charged with murder. The mystery remains unresolved to many people: who actually killed Tara Grinstead?Some people involved in this case still believe that the truth is out there and will eventually put the decade-long case to rest.