Rita Y. Shuler - Murder in the Midlands: Larry Gene Bell and the 28 Days of Terror that Shook South Carolina

Published by The History Press
Charleston, SC 29403
www.historypress.net

Copyright 2007 by Rita Y. Shuler
All rights reserved

Cover image: Bells booking photo the morning of his arrest. Courtesy of SLED.

First published 2007
e-book edition 2011

ISBN 978.1.61423.097.7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shuler, Rita Y.

Murder in the midlands : Larry Gene Bell and the 28 days of terror that shook South Carolina / Rita Y. Shuler.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-250-5 (alk. paper)

1. Bell, Larry Gene, 1948-1996. 2. Murder--South Carolina--Case studies. 3. Murderers--South Carolina--Case studies. 4. Trials (Murder)--South Carolina. 5. Smith, Sharon Faye, d. 1985. 6. Helmick, Debra May, d. 1985. 7. Murder victims--South Carolina--Case studies. I. Title.

HV6533.S6 S583 2007

361.1523092--dc22

2007000638

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 Shari Faye Smith and Debra May Helmick.

This is a case that is permanently etched in South Carolinas history. Some segments of interviews, court transcripts and published articles have been edited to facilitate reading.

First, my sincere thanks to everyone at The History Press for their professional and personal assistance with my first book, Carolina Crimes, and now with Murder in the Midlands.

My deepest thanks again to my dear friend, Kathleen Thornley, for her support and proofreading to help me bring it all together, and to my family and friends for their help and support along the way.

My special thanks to my fellow SLED Agent and friend Diane Bodie for her advice, our many conversations, crime stories and margaritas.

My heartfelt thanks to Debra (Helmick) Johnson, Woody, Becky, Little Debra and Little Woody for being devoted friends and sharing their personal memories.

Thanks to former and present SLED agents and some who have passed on for relevant information of the case: Lieutenant Ken Habben, Captain Leon Gasque, Lieutenant Jim Springs, Lieutenant Skeet Perry, Lieutenant Hoss Horton, Lieutenant Gaile Heath, Captain David Caldwell and Special Agent Dan DeFreese.

My appreciation to the following for assisting me with obtaining the investigative case files, court transcripts and other significant information: SLED agents and personnel; Captain Teresa Woods; Lieutenant Mike Brown; Mary Perry; Sabrena Matthews; Cindy Dudley; Tammy Rawl; Solicitor Donnie Myers from the Lexington County Solicitors Office; Chief Deputy Attorney General Don Zelenka and librarian Susan Husman from the office of the attorney general of South Carolina; Sheriff James Metts, Lexington County Sheriffs Office; and Dr. Ted Rathbun, forensic physical anthropologist.

Cases should not be remembered for the persons who did the crime. That would only glorify those persons. We should always remember the victims and keep the awareness that bad and evil continue to happen.

Truth is very important in life. This case is a South Carolina truth, maybe one that we would prefer not to claim, but it is real and it did happen. It should be remembered so that Shari Faye Smith and Debra May Helmick will never be forgotten.

As with all the cases I assisted with during my twenty-four years with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), I always felt and trusted that what I was doing would help give some comfort to the families and loved ones left behind.

I tell this story with sincere compassion and respect for all involved.

My early morning four-mile run felt good. Ive always loved mornings, the start of another day to love life. It was already seventy-five degrees and another picture-perfect day at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. Edisto Beach is one of the last unspoiled beaches on South Carolinas coast with a laid-back atmosphere and Southern charm.

There was an extreme heat wave going through South Carolina, with temperatures hitting one hundred degrees for the last several days. This was one of my getaway R&R weekends away from work. I was 160 miles from SLED headquarters in Columbia, and everything was right with my world.

Just the day before, Friday, May 31, 1985, even though the temperature was one hundred degrees, the sky had been a beautiful vivid blue, not a cloud anywhere. The conditions for crabbing were perfect. I had spent most of the day on Bay Creek Inlet holding onto a line with a chicken back hooked on the end with a metal shower curtain hook, pulling in blue crabs. I caught about four dozen of those big boys. It was a good days catch.

Today would be another good day for crabbing, but first I had to make a supply run to the corner IGA grocery store. I needed to get more chicken backs for bait and, of course, beer and ice. Crabs always seem to bite better when theres beer around.

My only thought right then was to get back to the crabs, so I rushed to the IGA, jumped out of my Jeep and hurried to the door. I did a quick glance at the newspaper rack right outside the door and stopped dead in my tracks. The bold headlines of the State newspaper read, Missing Teenager Feared Abducted, and accompanying the headline was a photo of Sharon Shari Faye Smith. I leaned down, grabbed it out of the rack and started reading:

Car found in driveway, door open, and engine running. Sheriff Deputies and volunteers conducted an air and ground search of a wooded area of rural Lexington County Friday for a 17-year-old high school senior feared abducted after her car was found abandoned in the driveway of her familys home in the rural community of Red Bank on Platt Springs Road, ten miles from Lexington, South Carolina. Sharis parents found Sharis blue Chevette at the end of their driveway around 3 p.m. Friday. The door was open and the engine was running. Bare footprints were found leading from the car to the mailbox, but no return tracks to the car were found. Lexington County Sheriff James Metts stated, Nobody saw anything. We have no clues. She vanished.

Sheriff Metts requested the assistance of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).

As I left Edisto Island Sunday morning heading back to Columbia, I picked up the Sunday State paper. The search for Shari was again front-page news.

The search had continued on Saturday in the one-hundred-degree blistering heat for the missing teenager from Lexington. It took on an added urgency when it was learned that Shari had a rare form of diabetes, diabetes insipidus, commonly know as water diabetes. This type of diabetes required that Shari drink large quantities of water and take her prescribed medication.

Shari always stopped and checked the mail on her way into the house. Around 3:25 p.m. on Friday, May 31, her mother had glanced out of the window of her home and saw Sharis car in the driveway at the road near the mailbox and told her husband, Bob, that Shari was home.