Maryville, Tennessee – Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong said investigators charged a Walland man today in connection with the three bodies that were recovered from the fire on Payne Hollow Road in Walland Sunday evening.

Johnny Ray Wilburn, 56, Nebo Mountain Road, Walland, is charged with three counts of criminal homicide. Wilburn is being held on bonds totaling $750,000 pending a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court at 1:30 pm on January 27, 2025.

The names of the three victims are being withheld pending positive identification. Autopsies were performed on all three victims today at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville. Preliminary results of the autopsies are consistent with homicide as the manner of death for all three victims.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office and certified fire investigators from other state and local agencies are continuing their inquiry into the case. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.