Woman back from Florida to face charges in Tennessee homicide

photo Connie Sanders King
photo Troy Lynn King

The fiancee of former Jo Dee Messina stage manager Thomas Colucci is back behind bars in Tennessee after waiving extradition from Florida to Coffee County, Tenn., on homicide charges.

Colucci's fiancee, 37-year-old Connie Sanders King, was returned to Tennessee from Daytona Beach, Fla., last week to face charges of first-degree murder and felony murder in Colucci's Nov. 13, 2012, fatal shooting, officials in Coffee County said.

Connie King is charged along with her estranged husband, Troy Lynn King, 41, with homicide counts and an additional charge of theft over $1,000.

On Monday, Coffee County Sheriff's Office Capt. Frank Watkins said investigators still can't talk much about the motive in the slaying because of continuing interviews and ongoing developments. Watkins said no additional arrests or charges are expected.

Connie King was taken into custody this month at an Indian Motorcycles shop in Daytona, Fla., where she worked as an office manager. She waived extradition last week. She is being held on $500,000 bond and is set for arraignment on July 31, Watkins said.

The day of the slaying, Connie King was found running down the road covered in blood, and initially told investigators she and Colucci had been attacked at a Maple Springs Road home between McMinnville and Manchester, Tenn.

Troy King was a prime suspect from the beginning, according to Coffee County Investigator Chad Partin.

He remained on the lam until March when he was tracked down in Imperial Beach, Calif., and taken into custody by U.S. marshals and local authorities. Troy King was extradited to Coffee County, where he is being held on $1 million bond.

Partin said the Kings still were legally married although they had been separated for some time. Connie King had told others she and Colucci were to be married, according to Partin.

Authorities have not elaborated on those relationships or how they figured into the slaying.

Trip Hunt, of Crew One productions in Nashville, was acquainted with Colucci for about nine years and said he was well known and liked throughout Nashville's music community.

Originally from Erial, N.J., Colucci previously had worked with Messina's crew and was working with the band 311 when he was killed, Hunt said in March.

Colucci "was a great guy and just full of life," he said. Colucci was a father of two boys.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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