In a modern case of Cain and Abel, Justin Gregory Raner pled guilty in Rusk County this week to the second degree murder of his brother, Jeremy Neal Raner.

A visiting judge in the 4th Judicial District Court admitted defense motions to suppress Raner’s confessions on the grounds that Miranda warnings were not provided at the appropriate times in the course of the investigations.

The state contended that such allegation was erroneous in that the defendant was only a person of interest at the time of his interview and was not under arrest or in custody, said a press release for the Rusk County district attorney¹s office.

The investigating officers did administer a Miranda warning once the defendant indicated that he was involved in the murder, the release read. With the majority of the state’s evidence ruled inadmissible, the state agreed to a plea of guilty to second degree murder - murder with sudden passion - and a 20 year sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Kennedy prosecuted the case, which had a distinct biblical twist.

“It literally is Cain and Abel, where Cain takes his brother out in the field (and kills him). It’s just like the story in Genesis. This is exactly what happened,” Kennedy said about the tragic events that unfolded on July 4, 2009, in Rusk County.

“He took his brother out in the hayfield next door and shot him in the head with a .357 Magnum. He said, ‘I was mad at him,’” Kennedy said.

Raner was 23 at the time of the murder. His brother was 19. Alcohol was reportedly not involved in the incident.

Kennedy said that while the defense made claims that Raner was of “diminished mental capacity” and “mentally deficient,” the state of Texas doesn’t recognize diminished capacity.

Additionally, Raner had graduated from Henderson High School and completed a year and a half of coursework at Kilgore College.

At the time of the murder, he and his brother were prison guards at the Skyview unit in Rusk. Raner was reportedly a Bullard resident. The murder took place in a field reportedly owned by his mother and stepfather. He will have to serve 10 years before he is eligible parole, Kennedy said.