True crime cases in South Carolina

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  Five Points, Columbia, South Carolina · 2019

  Murder of Samantha Josephson

  A University of South Carolina senior was kidnapped and stabbed to death in March 2019 after mistakenly entering a car she believed was her rideshare pickup in Columbia, South Carolina. The driver, Nathaniel Rowland, was convicted of her kidnapping and murder in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison, and the case prompted new rideshare-safety laws in several states and at the federal level.

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  Moselle estate, Islandton, South Carolina · 2021

  Killing of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh

  On June 7, 2021, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found shot to death at their family's hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina. Maggie's husband and Paul's father, attorney Alex Murdaugh, was convicted of both murders in March 2023 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms, but the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the convictions in May 2026 after finding a court clerk had tampered with the jury; a retrial on the murder charges is scheduled for April 2027.

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  Clinton, South Carolina, United States · 1924

  Lynching of Norris Dendy

  Norris Dendy, an African-American father of five, was taken from his jail cell in Clinton, South Carolina, by a mob of white men on the night of July 4–5, 1933, and beaten and hanged after a physical altercation with a white truck driver. Five men were later indicted but a grand jury declined to charge anyone.

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  North Charleston, South Carolina · 2015

  Killing of Walter Scott

  On April 4, 2015, North Charleston, South Carolina police officer Michael Slager fatally shot Walter Scott, a 50-year-old Black man, in the back as Scott fled following a traffic stop. Bystander video contradicted Slager's official report, leading to murder charges; after a mistrial, Slager pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

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  Dorchester County, South Carolina, United States · 2001

  Murder of Kandee Martin

  On February 16, 2001, 21-year-old Kandee Louise Martin was shot to death in Dorchester County, South Carolina, by a high school acquaintance who then hid her body in the trunk of her car and set the vehicle on fire. Marion Bowman Jr. was convicted of murder and arson in 2002 and sentenced to death; he was executed by lethal injection on January 31, 2025.

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  Greenville, South Carolina · 1947

  Lynching of Willie Earle

  Willie Earle, a 24-year-old Black man, was taken from a South Carolina jail cell by a mob of taxi drivers on February 16, 1947, and beaten, stabbed, and shot to death near Greenville. Thirty-one white men were charged in the killing, but all were acquitted at trial.

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  Blackville–Hilda High School, Blackville, South Carolina · 1995

  1995 Blackville–Hilda High School shooting

  On October 12, 1995, a 16-year-old suspended student shot two teachers at Blackville–Hilda High School in South Carolina, killing one and wounding the other, before fatally shooting himself.

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  Queen Street, Charleston, South Carolina · 1958

  Killing of Jack Dobbins (the "Candlestick murder")

  Jack Dobbins, a 30-year-old Charleston, South Carolina chemical executive, was beaten to death with a brass candlestick on October 31–November 1, 1958. His confessed killer, 18-year-old airman John Mahon, was acquitted at trial after his defense argued self-defense against unwanted advances, a verdict that spread fear through Charleston's gay community.

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