Russell Layne found not guilty in connection to wife Emma Compton Layne’s 2017 death | Dateline

On September 1, 2026, a jury in Halifax County, Virginia, found Russell Layne not guilty of first-degree murder in connection to the death of his wife, Emma Compton Layne, according to NBC affiliate WSLS. Dateline featured Emma’s story in October 2017. Emma vanished on Saturday, June 17, 2017, after she finished closing the convenience store she owned in Cody, Virginia, around 7:30 p.m. She was supposed to spend the following day at the hospital visiting her mother, but she never showed up. The family reported Emma missing that Tuesday, after they found Emma’s credit card, clothes, car keys, cell phone, and dog left behind at her home. Five months later, on November 22, 2017, hunters found human remains in the woods less than a mile from the property Emma and her husband owned. Major Tommy Spencer, of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, told NBC-affiliate WSLS at the time that the remains were scattered across the ground and someone seemed to have attempted to bury the body. “It appeared to have been in a very shallow grave,” Maj. Spencer said. The sheriff’s office suspected foul play upon finding the remains. According to a January 2018 press release by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, the remains were transported to the medical examiner’s office for autopsy, examination and positive identification. “We are still awaiting additional information from the medical examiner’s office concerning the circumstances and cause of death,” Sheriff Fred Clark said in the release. “But we are treating this as a homicide investigation and are continuing to pursue all possible leads related to Mrs. Layne’s death. This investigation is top priority.” In November 2024, the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page that Emma’s husband, Russell Wayne Layne, had been arrested for Emma’s death. He was charged with first-degree murder. Layne pleaded not guilty. On September 1, 2026, after seven days of hearing evidence and witness testimony, a jury found Layne not guilty of first-degree murder. Prosecutors alleged that based on security video, Layne was the only other person at the couple’s home at the time of the murder. His defense argued there was no direct evidence tying him to Emma’s death, according to WSLS. Commonwealth attorney Tracy Martin spoke to the media after the verdict. “My heart goes out to the family. I wish that it was different for them. I hope that they can take this chapter and use it to close the book and start to heal within themselves,” she told WSLS. If you have a story to share with Dateline, please submit it here.