Jurors Now Weighing Whether Johnny Ray Wilburn Should Receive Life Without Parole
MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A Blount County jury has convicted a Walland man on nearly all charges stemming from a 2025 fire that claimed the lives of three people.
On Tuesday, jurors found Johnny Ray Wilburn guilty on 38 of 39 counts, including multiple murder-related charges connected to a fire at a home on Payne Hollow Road in Walland in January 2025.
Wilburn was found not guilty on a single charge of aggravated animal abuse. He was convicted on every other count presented to the jury.
Investigators said Wilburn intentionally started the fire, which killed Norma Farley, Delmar Farley and Cas Farley. The deaths shocked the Walland community and devastated the victims’ family members.
Following the fire, relatives described the three victims as generous and caring people who were always willing to help others.
“They’d give you the shirt off their back if you needed a place to stay; they would invite you into their home,” family member Stephanie Cook told WVLT following the tragedy. “It’s a huge loss. I mean it’s a whole family we lost on both sides.”
The trial now moves into the sentencing phase. While the jury has returned guilty verdicts on the criminal charges, jurors are continuing to deliberate whether Wilburn should receive life in prison or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The decision will determine whether Wilburn could ever be eligible for release.
A formal sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 7, when the court will officially impose the sentence determined through the judicial process.
The case marks the culmination of a lengthy investigation and prosecution into one of Blount County’s deadliest residential fires in recent years.
