NATCHEZ — The three men arrested for the murder of Terry Lynn Farmer in August 2009 will all face an Adams County Circuit Court grand jury.

Willie Duck, 35, of Fayette, Quentin Smith, 33, of Fayette and Boris Ward, 37, from Stampley Road were all arrested Aug. 30 on the charges of murder, arson and attempted rape.

All three men faced the Natchez Municipal Court Tuesday morning before Judge Jim Blough, who ruled on whether or not he believed there was probable cause to send these men in front of a grand jury.

Smith and Ward both faced the judge while Natchez Police investigator Jerry Ford testified on the evidence he and his team collected.

Ford said he has statements from witnesses saying that Duck described, in detail, the events that took place during the hours before, during and after Farmer’s murder, linking all three men to the crime.

Ford also said he has witnesses linking all three men together on the morning after the murder.

Smith did not have an attorney present, but did testify in court that he never met, saw or knew Farmer and that he knew nothing about the murder.

Ward was represented by public defender Kevin Colbert, and did not testify during the preliminary hearing.

Duck waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

All three men face the same charges and are considered to be “acting in concert” with each other.

The next meeting of the grand jury in Adams County is in January.

Farmer, 54, was discovered in her burned Shadow Lane house more than a year ago.

Natchez police patrolling the area around Farmer’s house on the morning of Aug. 20, 2009, followed the odor of smoke to Farmer’s house.

The fire was too intense for the responding officers to manage, so the Natchez Fire Department was called to extinguish the flames.

Farmer’s body was not discovered until after the fire was extinguished.

Adams County Coroner James Lee said the autopsy revealed Farmer’s cause of death as blunt trauma to the head and a gunshot wound to the head.

The fire was believed to be started to destroy the crime scene.