Rita Y. Shuler - Small-Town Slayings in South Carolina

Although regional true crime is not often discussed as such, it comprises a huge bulk of true crime history today. Sometimes we forget how massive is the USA. Many crimes that have a strong impact on one locale can be entirely forgotten except by those to whom they most strongly mattered: the families and communities of the crime victims.

Laura James, Crime Historian

www.laurajames.typepad.com

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2009 by Rita Y. Shuler

All rights reserved

First published 2009

e-book edition 2012

ISBN 978.1.61423.288.9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shuler, Rita Y.

Small-town slayings in South Carolina / Rita Y. Shuler.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-558-2

1. Murder--South Carolina--Case studies. 2. Crime--South Carolina. 3. Criminals--South Carolina. 4. South Carolina. Law Enforcement Division. I. Title.

HV6533.S6S585 2009

364.152309757--dc22

2008050257

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Dedicated to the memory of the innocent victims taken from us and to the innocent victims left behind.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, my deepest thanks to my dear friend Kathleen Thornley for her support, proofreading and editing and, most of all, for always being there for me through the years.

A personal thanks to my special friend and SLED partner, Diane Bodie, for always finding time in her busy schedule to discuss our never-ending crime stories and share a margaritaor two.

My heartfelt appreciation to Betty Boykin, Mrs. Molly Gunter, Ricky Linett, Anthony Robinson and Eolean Fogle Hughes for sharing their loved ones precious memories with me.

Thanks to the following, who assisted me with helpful information: Iris Mitchum; Rob Harris; Buddy Avinger; Buck Travis; Trudy Wingate; Irvin Shuler; Claire Dantzler Shuler; Kathy Riley Lowder; Becky Clement Furtick; Buddy Walling; Doug Huse; Sumter police chief Patty Patterson; Captain Mike Adams, Orangeburg Public Safety; Major Harold Carter, former Orangeburg Public Safety; Lieutenant R.C. Carter, Walterboro Police Department; Assistant Solicitor Steven H. Knight, South Carolina Fourteenth Judicial Circuit; Dr. Frank Trefney, former pathologist, Colleton Regional Hospital; Jamie Campbell, Sumter County clerk of court; Ken Bell, the Item, Sumter, South Carolina; and Josh Gelinas, South Carolina Department of Corrections.

Conversations with former and present SLED agents offered pertinent information about the cases and forensic information: Lieutenant Tom Darnell, Lieutenant Ira Parnell, Captain David Caldwell, Captain Ira Jeffcoat, Special Agent David McClure, Special Agent Valerie Williams, Special Agent Dan DeFreese, Special Agent Jeff Parrott, Vick Deer, Don Girndt and Chad Caldwell.

My thanks to the following for assisting me with obtaining the investigative case files and court transcripts: Mary Perry, SLED; Melissa Winfield, Third Circuit Court reporter; and librarians Janet Meyer and Elaine Green, South Carolina Supreme Court.

I am indebted to the following local South Carolina newspapers and staff members for allowing me to use information from archived articles to fill in certain accounts, as case records were limited or missing from some agency files: Lee Harter with the Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Craddock Morris with the Calhoun Times, St. Matthews, South Carolina; and Al Anderson with the State, Columbia, South Carolina.

My sincere appreciation and thanks to everyone at The History Press for their professional and personal assistance with the publishing of my books.

FROM THE AUTHOR

The cases chronicled in this book will forever be a part of South Carolinas history, clearly a history that we would prefer not to claim, but these cases are real and they did happen. Some segments of interviews, statements, court transcripts and published articles have been edited to facilitate reading.

Every case has its own story to tell and every crime has a victim. As special agent/forensic photographer of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), my work entailed helping the victims. My book is about remembering the victims. By putting the names of the ones whose lives were taken in print, they can never be forgotten or erased.

My childhood and young adult memories of how hometown communities were devastated by murders happening so close to home inspired me to write their stories. These same communities welcomed me back to share with me their loved ones tales.

An unsolved case that entered my life in 1978, and never left, moved me to find the victims family and write their story. A fifteen-year-old cold case that was solved with advanced forensic technology encouraged me to write that story. I trust this story will bring hope to all families of victims of unsolved cases that one day their loved ones killer will be found.

One constant ingredient of life is change. Over the years, highly advanced technology has brought many changes to law enforcement and, above all, the way the evidence is examined. New cases as well as old and cold cases can now be linked to a suspect through fingerprint and DNA databases. However, lets not forget, it still takes a human to make it work.

I write these stories with sincere compassion and respect for all concerned, but no matter how many words are written, they can never represent a complete lived experience. My passion for the victims and their loved ones will always be a part of me.

AX ASSAULT AND MURDER OF THE STROMANS

Orangeburg, South Carolina, 1955

The Edisto River, the longest blackwater river in the world, runs peacefully along the edge of Orangeburg, South Carolina, winding its way down to South Carolinas coastal waters. In this simply Southern town, Sunday mornings are normally pretty quiet. Most residents are getting ready for church and planning what they will have for Sunday dinner.

February 27, 1955, wasnt one of those Sundays. Shocking news of what investigators would later term one of the most brutal murders and assaults in Orangeburg history spread quickly through the town and neighboring communities. Mrs. Mary Lee Stroman, seventy-five years old, was murdered, and her husband, Mr. William P. Stroman, seventy-eight years old and a veteran of the Spanish-American War, was seriously wounded. Mr. Stroman had only one leg and walked with a cane. Saturday night, February 26, 1955, as the Stromans sat quietly in their den watching television, an intruder entered their home and brutally assaulted them with an ax.

Before moving to Orangeburg, the Stromans had owned and lived on Wampee Plantation in Eutawville, South Carolina. Mrs. Stroman was born at Wampee Plantation and had inherited Wampee from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Watts (Caroline Breeland) Bannister.