Moncks Corner, SC - On July 18th South Carolina Law Enforcement Division [SLED] Agent Charles Boyette was reported to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office [BCSO] for recent armed physical and sexual assaults by his ex-girlfriend, Maryann Powell Cox...."He said we both were going to die today... I kept telling him no, he did not want to do that. He kept saying yes he did and that there was 'no going back'"...
According to BCSO Maryann told them that she didn't want Boyette prosecuted - just kept away from her. BCSO made it clear they have to report this to SLED. SLED was notified and quickly suspended Agent Boyette without pay - indefinitely, had him turn in his SLED equipment, and initiated an investigation. Boyette was not detained to assess his level of danger to himself or others, and there is no mention of his personal weapons being removed from him. Agent Boyette resigned July 20th - which is changing now to he "retired for medical reasons."
July 22nd, Boyette brought Maryann flowers to her job, at Southcoast Community Bank, and then came back and murdered her and himself when she left the bank at the end of her workday.
...Authorities say a former SLED intelligence supervisor shot and killed a woman he had a relationship with and then took his own life outside a bank in Moncks Corner Friday afternoon. Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury says Charles H. Boyette and 44-year-old Mary Ann Cox, both of Moncks Corner, both died of gunshot wounds in the murder-suicide... Witnesses say Boyette visited Cox at Southcoast Bank twice on Friday where she worked as a teller. He brought her flowers the first time and wielded a gun the next, shooting Cox, then killing himself in the bank's parking lot...
Facebook Group: R.I.P MaryAnn Powell Cox
...Maryann Powell Cox was one of the sweetest, most loving, beautiful, and funniest women I have ever known. She made everyone feel better just being around her... Her life should not have ended this way, PERIOD. We will miss you and your smile Maryann...
...This woman helped me when I had no where else to go. She took care of my son when I worked three jobs to make ends meet. She took care of her boys and her husband when anyone of them got sick. She worked two and three jobs so she could pay bills when her husband was out of work. Mary Ann did so much good by so many people...
...This is very sad. A women lost her lfe to a man that could not handle his situation. It is not stress related. I have been a cop for many years and have been in many stressful situations. You learn to handle it... This states law enforcement idea of just letting a person go from one place to another without any type of psychological evaluation or assisitance is a REAL PROBLEM...
Prayers go out to both families from many.
"Maryann" - made by a friend
CORONER IDENTIFIES TWO PEOPLE KILLED IN MURDER-SUICIDE
abcnews4.com
By Nikki
Posted: Jul 22, 2011
[Excerpts] ..."I feel terrible because stuff like this doesn't happen in Moncks Corner," said Jacqueline Grave. Grave went to the crime scene after getting a call from her daughter who works at a restaurant nearby. "She called me on the phone and said the lady who got killed had just been in there for lunch at 12 o'clock, and then the next thing she heard she was dead," said Grave. According to Grave's daughter, Cox worked at Southcoast Community Bank. "My daughter said she'd been in there today, laughing, talking, and having fun," said Grave... "I just don't remember a case like this," said Lt. Michael Roach who's been with the Moncks Corner Police Department for 23 years... Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury says Cox and Boyette knew one another. Salisbury won't say how many times the two were shot. "It appears they were both shot in the lower part of the body," said Salisbury... [Full article here]
MURDER-SUICIDE: WOMAN HAD SOUGHT PROTECTION FROM FORMER SLED AGENT
The Charleston Post & Courier
July 23, 2011
[Excerpts] The man accused of killing a woman and then himself Friday had just resigned as an agent from the State Law Enforcement Division days earlier in light of allegations he had assaulted the same woman after she ended their relationship. Authorities say Charlie Boyette, 61, shot Mary Ann Cox, 44, as she was leaving work about 5:30 p.m. at the Southcoast Community Bank on East Main Street. He then turned the gun on himself. Both were dead when police arrived on the scene, investigators said Friday. Cox had sought help from authorities before the shooting... [Full article here]
POLICE: FORMER SLED AGENT HAD ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH SHOOTING VICTIM
abcnews4.com
By Stefanie Bainum
Posted: Jul 23
[Excerpts] ... ABC News 4 spoke to a witness who was the second person on the scene of the crime. Salesman Kevin Timmons says he was selling a pair of snake boots to a customer at Barron's Department store, in Moncks Corner, when he heard an unlikely sound from the bank next door... Timmons found the bodies of Cox and Boyette in the parking lot of the Southcoast Community Bank. Authorities said Cox was a bank teller there. Timmons said detectives told him Boyette had come to the bank earlier in the day to give Cox flowers, and when she was leaving work, he confronted her. Standing in the parking lot, Timmons recounted what he saw: "Looked like she dropped the flowers to back up and to almost get away. It looked like she had real dressy shoes on. Don't know if she tripped up, because one of her shoes was on and one was off, and she fell back right here."... SLED documents show Boyette was put on suspension Tuesday, July 19, as a result of the police report filed by Cox. He resigned from SLED Wednesday, July 20. According to Boyette's lawyer, Lionel Lofton, Boyette's resignation from SLED was because of physical health problems... [Full article here]
- Maryann Powell Cox was happy earlier in the day - "laughing, talking, having fun."... - - Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury giving wrong information about the murder and suicide.
AUTHORITIES: EX-SLED SUPERVISOR KILLS WOMAN THEN SELF OUTSIDE BANK
WCSC , berkeleycounty.live5news.com
By Ray Rivera, Live 5 News
July 23rd, 2011
[Excerpts] Authorities say a former SLED intelligence supervisor shot and killed a woman he had a relationship with and then took his own life outside a bank in Moncks Corner Friday afternoon. Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury says Charles H. Boyette and 44-year-old Mary Ann Cox, both of Moncks Corner, both died of gunshot wounds in the murder-suicide. According to investigators, around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Boyette approached Cox, shot her and then shot himself outside the South Coast Community bank on East Main Street. Cox was a teller for the bank. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office and SLED both announced Saturday morning that Boyette was a supervisor in the SLED Intelligence Department assigned in Charleston. On Monday, the sheriff's office received a complaint by Cox regarding allegations of an assault/incident involving Boyette. Cox told deputies that she had a relationship with Boyette for over a year and ended it on July 4. She said that Boyette was extremely unhappy about the breakup. Authorities then notified SLED Chief Mark Keel regarding the incident. After reviewing the complaint, Keel suspended Boyette on Tuesday and requested the sheriff's office to investigate the allegations because of the serious nature and to avoid a conflict of interest. The following day Keel says he received a letter of resignation from Boyette. Boyette was hired at SLED on Jan. 4, 2000... "I can't remember a case like this. It is a rare case," said Lt. Michael Roach with the Moncks Corner Police Department. [Full article here]
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOR WOMAN KILLED IN MURDER-SUICIDE
WCSC
Jul 25, 2011
Funeral arrangements have been made for the Moncks Corner woman authorities say was shot and killed Friday, moments before the shooter turned the gun on himself.
Cox will be laid to rest Tuesday. Her funeral will be at the Dial-Murray Funeral Home at 11 a.m. Her visitation is set for Monday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home... [Full article here]
Boyette brought Maryann flowers earlier in the day...
SLED: FORMER AGENT INVOLVED IN MURDER SUICIDE: Former SLED Agent Accused Of Killing Woman, Committing Suicide
wyff4.com
July 23, 2011
[Excerpts] ...SLED officials said Boyette resigned July 20, a day after he was suspended following an assault complaint made by Cox. Authorities said the pair had been in a relationship that ended several weeks before, and Cox wanted Boyette to stay away from her. SLED Chief Mark Keel had asked Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt to investigate the assault complaint... [Full article here]
MAN KILLS WOMAN, HIMSELF: Moncks Corner authorities seeking motive in shootings near ATM on East Main Street
The Charleston Post & Courier
By Diane Knich
Saturday, July 23, 2011
[Excerpts] Law enforcement officials said they don't yet know why a man killed a woman and then himself behind a downtown bank late Friday afternoon... At 5:38 p.m., police got a call about one person being shot, Roach said. While officers were on their way to the scene, a call came in that a second person had been shot. When they got there, both were dead... [Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury] said both died from gunshot wounds to the "lower part of the body." He could not yet say how many times each person had been shot... [Moncks Corner Police Lt. Michael Roach] said the two knew each other but would only say that they were not married. The bank had closed not long before the shootings happened. Nobody was in the bank at the time of the incident, Roach said... Roach also said two people witnessed the incident, but they were not being identified. This kind of crime is unusual in the small town of Moncks Corner, Roach said. "I can't remember a case like this, and I've been here 23 years" [Full article here]
VICTIM EARLIER ASKED FOR HELP: Woman had broken off tryst with SLED agent
The Charleston Post & Courier
By Diette Courrégé, Andy Paras
Sunday, July 24, 2011
[Excerpts] On Monday, Mary Ann Cox asked local deputies to keep a SLED agent, a man she said was her former lover, from contacting her any more... They said Charles Boyette, 61, shot bank teller Mary Ann Cox, 45, three times -- twice in the arm and wrist and once in the back - as she was leaving Southcoast Community Bank on East Main Street about 5:30 p.m. He then turned the gun on himself and fired into his chest. The pair were within feet of each other and were dead when police arrived... Cox had sought help from authorities before the shooting. She told Berkeley County sheriff's investigators on Monday that she had been in a romantic relationship with Boyette for more than a year, but she ended it July 4 and he had been "extremely unhappy" ... Boyette and Cox were married but not to each other... Cox told officials that she didn't want an investigation into an alleged assault to go any further, but asked that Boyette not contact her any more. Deputies met with Boyette and told him to stay away from Cox. They forwarded her complaint to SLED Chief Mark Keel. Keel asked the sheriff's office to investigate the allegations because of their severity and because he wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest... Keel suspended Boyette without pay on Tuesday, pending the outcome of the investigation. Boyette resigned on Wednesday, and his attorney, Lionel Lofton... Lofton met with Boyette on Tuesday and with Boyette and his wife on Wednesday to discuss his suspension from SLED, and they agreed it was in Boyette's best interest to retire so he could take care of some health issues, Lofton said. Boyette had been having seizures and didn't know why, Lofton said. Boyette already had retired from the state but was continuing to work because he had been doing it all his life, loved it and wanted to make a contribution, Lofton said... [Full article here]
MURDER-SUICIDE STUNS MONCKS CORNER
Berkeley Independent
By Dan Brown
Published Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:12 AM
[Excerpts] Two people were killed Friday afternoon in an unthinkable murder-suicide in Moncks Corner that has left the town in shock. Dead are Charles Boyette, 61, and Mary Ann Cox, 44, both of Moncks Corner. The two were reportedly involved in a relationship that Cox had ended weeks ago. On Friday, Boyette approached Cox as she was leaving Southcoast Bank, her place of employment in downtown Moncks Corner... According to police reports, Boyette had resigned from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) on Wednesday, July 20, over a complaint filed against him by Cox on July 18. “Mr. Boyette approached Ms. Cox in an area behind the Southcoast Bank building as she was leaving work,” [Moncks Corner Police Lt. Michael] Roach said. “He did not enter the bank building and they were not arguing. He approached the victim from behind and fired three shots”... According to an incident report filed with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office on July 18, Boyette and Cox had been romantically involved for more than a year... The report went on to say that Boyette was upset with the breakup and had harassed Cox with phone calls, emails and text messages before Cox filed the complaint last Monday. Boyette was subsequently suspended on Tuesday, July 19 and resigned on Wednesday, July 20. According to a letter written to SLED chief Mark Keel from Boyette’s attorney Lionel Lofton, Boyette’s vehicle and all SLED property were returned on July 19... [Full article here]
POLICE: FORMER SLED AGENT HAD ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH SHOOTING VICTIM
abcnews4.com
By Stefanie Bainum
Posted: Jul 23
[Excerpts] ... ABC News 4 spoke to a witness who was the second person on the scene of the crime. Salesman Kevin Timmons says he was selling a pair of snake boots to a customer at Barron's Department store, in Moncks Corner, when he heard an unlikely sound from the bank next door... Timmons found the bodies of Cox and Boyette in the parking lot of the Southcoast Community Bank. Authorities said Cox was a bank teller there. Timmons said detectives told him Boyette had come to the bank earlier in the day to give Cox flowers, and when she was leaving work, he confronted her. Standing in the parking lot, Timmons recounted what he saw: "Looked like she dropped the flowers to back up and to almost get away. It looked like she had real dressy shoes on. Don't know if she tripped up, because one of her shoes was on and one was off, and she fell back right here."... SLED documents show Boyette was put on suspension Tuesday, July 19, as a result of the police report filed by Cox. He resigned from SLED Wednesday, July 20. According to Boyette's lawyer, Lionel Lofton, Boyette's resignation from SLED was because of physical health problems... [Full article here]
911 CALLS RELEASED FROM MONCKS CORNER MURDER-SUICIDE
WCSC
By Keke Collins
Posted: Jul 27, 2011
[Excerpts] Funeral services took place Tuesday for the woman killed in last week's murder suicide outside a Moncks Corner bank. Berkeley County officials released the 9-1-1 calls made from the scene of the shooting... Just a week ago, Cox filed a report with police saying she and Boyette had a year-long relationship that ended on July 4 and Boyette was extremely unhappy about the break up. Following that report, SLED Chief Mark Keel had Boyette investigated and that very day Boyette was suspended. A day later, Boyette resigned. Witnesses say Boyette visited Cox at Southcoast Bank twice on Friday where she worked as a teller. He brought her flowers the first time and wielded a gun the next, shooting Cox, then killing himself in the bank's parking lot. A 9-1-1 call made by a person at the scene painted a horrific picture... Boyette's funeral was held over the weekend. Services for Cox and Boyette both took place at Dial-Murray Funeral Home. [Full article here]
MAN ACCUSED OF MURDER, SUICIDE, BURIED IN MONCKS CORNER
abcnews4.com
By Natalie Caula
Posted: Jul 25, 2011 1:36 PM PST
Updated: Jul 28, 2011 5:08 AM PST
[Excerpts] Charles Boyette was laid to rest Monday in Moncks Corner where visitors paid their respects for the man police say he took his own life after killing Maryann Cox... But there may have been signs of trouble. A police report filed about a week before the slaying shows Cox and the former SLED agent, Boyette were having a romantic relationship, one that was becoming shaky. The report says Cox ended the relationship after an "incident" took place and that she didn't want him to contact her anymore. Berkeley County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dan Moon says they cannot say what she accused him of or release the statement included in the incident report filed on July 16th. Moon says the information is restricted because the incident is still under investigation... In a press release on Monday, Moncks Corner Police authorities say Cox later refused to cooperate with their investigation. The day after SLED Chief Keel suspended Boyette, he turned in his letter of resignation. Two days after that, Cox and Boyette were dead with many questions left unanswered. "That's the sad part. That cowardly, he's taken himself out," Green said. The investigation into the murder/suicide is closed, according to the Moncks Corner Police Department. Berkeley County Sheriff's authorities say their investigation into the original incident is still underway... "When she was walking outside she was carrying the flowers. From what it looked like, he was walking up to her and he did what he did and the flowers were laying in between the bodies after it was done," Kevin Timmons said. Timmons, who works next to the bank at Baron's Department store saw it all unfold and says Boyette had shown up to the bank earlier to give Cox flowers. He says Boyette came back when she was leaving the bank, where she worked as a teller, before taking both their lives. [Full article here]
SHOOTER WAS SLED AGENT SUSPENDED FOR HARASSING VICTIM
Berkeley Independent
By Dan Brown
Published Tuesday, July 26, 2011
[Excerpts] The man who shot and killed Southcoast Bank employee Mary Ann Cox was a former SLED agent who lost his job last week because of a complaint filed against him by the victim. In a release from Kathryn Richardson, spokesperson with the State Law Enforcement Division, agent Charles Boyette, 61, of Moncks Corner was immediately suspended following the filing of a complaint against him by Cox... The report went on to say that Boyette was “very unhappy with the breakup,” and Cox provided a detailed voluntary statement to police concerning Boyette’s actions, which included photographed text messages sent by Boyette to Cox’s cellphone. Cox also advised the BCSO that she did not want the investigation to proceed any further, only that she did not want Boyette to contact her anymore. Boyette, 61, was a supervisor in SLED’s intelligence division working out of its Charleston office. After Cox filed the complaint, the BCSO met with Boyette and placed him on notice not to engage in any further contact the victim. On July 19, the BCSO contacted SLED, Boyette’s employer, and advised them of the complaint filed by Cox. Additional documents included in the SLED release show that on July 19, SLED Chief Mark Keel asked BCSO Sheriff Wayne DeWitt to investigate the harassment incident involving Boyette, “since the allegations are serious in nature and to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.” A second letter from Keel written on July 19 and hand delivered to Boyette announced his indefinite suspension without pay. Boyette then resigned from SLED on Wednesday, July 20... Two days later, according to MCPD Lt. Michael Roach, Boyette approached Cox as she left the Moncks Corner Southcoast Bank branch around 5:30 p.m. and fired three shots, two of them striking Cox in the shoulder and the back... [Full article here]
NEW: FORMER SLED AGENT'S MURDER-SUICIDE INVESTIGATION COMPLETE
Count on News 2
Published: July 25, 2011
[Excerpts] ...Moncks Corner investigators located two eye witnesses and along with physical evidence confirmed the account of the shooting. The Moncks Corner PD says this case is closed... [Full article here]
[SC] Husband of OIDV murder victim Maryann Powell Cox speaks out
abcnews4.com
By Nikki
Posted: Jul 22, 2011
[Excerpts] ..."I feel terrible because stuff like this doesn't happen in Moncks Corner," said Jacqueline Grave. Grave went to the crime scene after getting a call from her daughter who works at a restaurant nearby. "She called me on the phone and said the lady who got killed had just been in there for lunch at 12 o'clock, and then the next thing she heard she was dead," said Grave. According to Grave's daughter, Cox worked at Southcoast Community Bank. "My daughter said she'd been in there today, laughing, talking, and having fun," said Grave... "I just don't remember a case like this," said Lt. Michael Roach who's been with the Moncks Corner Police Department for 23 years... Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury says Cox and Boyette knew one another. Salisbury won't say how many times the two were shot. "It appears they were both shot in the lower part of the body," said Salisbury... [Full article here]
MURDER-SUICIDE: WOMAN HAD SOUGHT PROTECTION FROM FORMER SLED AGENT
The Charleston Post & Courier
July 23, 2011
[Excerpts] The man accused of killing a woman and then himself Friday had just resigned as an agent from the State Law Enforcement Division days earlier in light of allegations he had assaulted the same woman after she ended their relationship. Authorities say Charlie Boyette, 61, shot Mary Ann Cox, 44, as she was leaving work about 5:30 p.m. at the Southcoast Community Bank on East Main Street. He then turned the gun on himself. Both were dead when police arrived on the scene, investigators said Friday. Cox had sought help from authorities before the shooting... [Full article here]
POLICE: FORMER SLED AGENT HAD ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH SHOOTING VICTIM
abcnews4.com
By Stefanie Bainum
Posted: Jul 23
[Excerpts] ... ABC News 4 spoke to a witness who was the second person on the scene of the crime. Salesman Kevin Timmons says he was selling a pair of snake boots to a customer at Barron's Department store, in Moncks Corner, when he heard an unlikely sound from the bank next door... Timmons found the bodies of Cox and Boyette in the parking lot of the Southcoast Community Bank. Authorities said Cox was a bank teller there. Timmons said detectives told him Boyette had come to the bank earlier in the day to give Cox flowers, and when she was leaving work, he confronted her. Standing in the parking lot, Timmons recounted what he saw: "Looked like she dropped the flowers to back up and to almost get away. It looked like she had real dressy shoes on. Don't know if she tripped up, because one of her shoes was on and one was off, and she fell back right here."... SLED documents show Boyette was put on suspension Tuesday, July 19, as a result of the police report filed by Cox. He resigned from SLED Wednesday, July 20. According to Boyette's lawyer, Lionel Lofton, Boyette's resignation from SLED was because of physical health problems... [Full article here]
- Maryann Powell Cox was happy earlier in the day - "laughing, talking, having fun."... - - Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury giving wrong information about the murder and suicide.
AUTHORITIES: EX-SLED SUPERVISOR KILLS WOMAN THEN SELF OUTSIDE BANK
WCSC , berkeleycounty.live5news.com
By Ray Rivera, Live 5 News
July 23rd, 2011
[Excerpts] Authorities say a former SLED intelligence supervisor shot and killed a woman he had a relationship with and then took his own life outside a bank in Moncks Corner Friday afternoon. Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury says Charles H. Boyette and 44-year-old Mary Ann Cox, both of Moncks Corner, both died of gunshot wounds in the murder-suicide. According to investigators, around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Boyette approached Cox, shot her and then shot himself outside the South Coast Community bank on East Main Street. Cox was a teller for the bank. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office and SLED both announced Saturday morning that Boyette was a supervisor in the SLED Intelligence Department assigned in Charleston. On Monday, the sheriff's office received a complaint by Cox regarding allegations of an assault/incident involving Boyette. Cox told deputies that she had a relationship with Boyette for over a year and ended it on July 4. She said that Boyette was extremely unhappy about the breakup. Authorities then notified SLED Chief Mark Keel regarding the incident. After reviewing the complaint, Keel suspended Boyette on Tuesday and requested the sheriff's office to investigate the allegations because of the serious nature and to avoid a conflict of interest. The following day Keel says he received a letter of resignation from Boyette. Boyette was hired at SLED on Jan. 4, 2000... "I can't remember a case like this. It is a rare case," said Lt. Michael Roach with the Moncks Corner Police Department. [Full article here]
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOR WOMAN KILLED IN MURDER-SUICIDE
WCSC
Jul 25, 2011
Funeral arrangements have been made for the Moncks Corner woman authorities say was shot and killed Friday, moments before the shooter turned the gun on himself.
Cox will be laid to rest Tuesday. Her funeral will be at the Dial-Murray Funeral Home at 11 a.m. Her visitation is set for Monday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home... [Full article here]
Boyette brought Maryann flowers earlier in the day...
wyff4.com
July 23, 2011
[Excerpts] ...SLED officials said Boyette resigned July 20, a day after he was suspended following an assault complaint made by Cox. Authorities said the pair had been in a relationship that ended several weeks before, and Cox wanted Boyette to stay away from her. SLED Chief Mark Keel had asked Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt to investigate the assault complaint... [Full article here]
MAN KILLS WOMAN, HIMSELF: Moncks Corner authorities seeking motive in shootings near ATM on East Main StreetThe Charleston Post & Courier
By Diane Knich
Saturday, July 23, 2011
[Excerpts] Law enforcement officials said they don't yet know why a man killed a woman and then himself behind a downtown bank late Friday afternoon... At 5:38 p.m., police got a call about one person being shot, Roach said. While officers were on their way to the scene, a call came in that a second person had been shot. When they got there, both were dead... [Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury] said both died from gunshot wounds to the "lower part of the body." He could not yet say how many times each person had been shot... [Moncks Corner Police Lt. Michael Roach] said the two knew each other but would only say that they were not married. The bank had closed not long before the shootings happened. Nobody was in the bank at the time of the incident, Roach said... Roach also said two people witnessed the incident, but they were not being identified. This kind of crime is unusual in the small town of Moncks Corner, Roach said. "I can't remember a case like this, and I've been here 23 years" [Full article here]
VICTIM EARLIER ASKED FOR HELP: Woman had broken off tryst with SLED agent
The Charleston Post & Courier
By Diette Courrégé, Andy Paras
Sunday, July 24, 2011
[Excerpts] On Monday, Mary Ann Cox asked local deputies to keep a SLED agent, a man she said was her former lover, from contacting her any more... They said Charles Boyette, 61, shot bank teller Mary Ann Cox, 45, three times -- twice in the arm and wrist and once in the back - as she was leaving Southcoast Community Bank on East Main Street about 5:30 p.m. He then turned the gun on himself and fired into his chest. The pair were within feet of each other and were dead when police arrived... Cox had sought help from authorities before the shooting. She told Berkeley County sheriff's investigators on Monday that she had been in a romantic relationship with Boyette for more than a year, but she ended it July 4 and he had been "extremely unhappy" ... Boyette and Cox were married but not to each other... Cox told officials that she didn't want an investigation into an alleged assault to go any further, but asked that Boyette not contact her any more. Deputies met with Boyette and told him to stay away from Cox. They forwarded her complaint to SLED Chief Mark Keel. Keel asked the sheriff's office to investigate the allegations because of their severity and because he wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest... Keel suspended Boyette without pay on Tuesday, pending the outcome of the investigation. Boyette resigned on Wednesday, and his attorney, Lionel Lofton... Lofton met with Boyette on Tuesday and with Boyette and his wife on Wednesday to discuss his suspension from SLED, and they agreed it was in Boyette's best interest to retire so he could take care of some health issues, Lofton said. Boyette had been having seizures and didn't know why, Lofton said. Boyette already had retired from the state but was continuing to work because he had been doing it all his life, loved it and wanted to make a contribution, Lofton said... [Full article here]
MURDER-SUICIDE STUNS MONCKS CORNER
Berkeley Independent
By Dan Brown
Published Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:12 AM
[Excerpts] Two people were killed Friday afternoon in an unthinkable murder-suicide in Moncks Corner that has left the town in shock. Dead are Charles Boyette, 61, and Mary Ann Cox, 44, both of Moncks Corner. The two were reportedly involved in a relationship that Cox had ended weeks ago. On Friday, Boyette approached Cox as she was leaving Southcoast Bank, her place of employment in downtown Moncks Corner... According to police reports, Boyette had resigned from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) on Wednesday, July 20, over a complaint filed against him by Cox on July 18. “Mr. Boyette approached Ms. Cox in an area behind the Southcoast Bank building as she was leaving work,” [Moncks Corner Police Lt. Michael] Roach said. “He did not enter the bank building and they were not arguing. He approached the victim from behind and fired three shots”... According to an incident report filed with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office on July 18, Boyette and Cox had been romantically involved for more than a year... The report went on to say that Boyette was upset with the breakup and had harassed Cox with phone calls, emails and text messages before Cox filed the complaint last Monday. Boyette was subsequently suspended on Tuesday, July 19 and resigned on Wednesday, July 20. According to a letter written to SLED chief Mark Keel from Boyette’s attorney Lionel Lofton, Boyette’s vehicle and all SLED property were returned on July 19... [Full article here]
POLICE: FORMER SLED AGENT HAD ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH SHOOTING VICTIM
abcnews4.com
By Stefanie Bainum
Posted: Jul 23
[Excerpts] ... ABC News 4 spoke to a witness who was the second person on the scene of the crime. Salesman Kevin Timmons says he was selling a pair of snake boots to a customer at Barron's Department store, in Moncks Corner, when he heard an unlikely sound from the bank next door... Timmons found the bodies of Cox and Boyette in the parking lot of the Southcoast Community Bank. Authorities said Cox was a bank teller there. Timmons said detectives told him Boyette had come to the bank earlier in the day to give Cox flowers, and when she was leaving work, he confronted her. Standing in the parking lot, Timmons recounted what he saw: "Looked like she dropped the flowers to back up and to almost get away. It looked like she had real dressy shoes on. Don't know if she tripped up, because one of her shoes was on and one was off, and she fell back right here."... SLED documents show Boyette was put on suspension Tuesday, July 19, as a result of the police report filed by Cox. He resigned from SLED Wednesday, July 20. According to Boyette's lawyer, Lionel Lofton, Boyette's resignation from SLED was because of physical health problems... [Full article here]
911 CALLS RELEASED FROM MONCKS CORNER MURDER-SUICIDE
WCSC
By Keke Collins
Posted: Jul 27, 2011
[Excerpts] Funeral services took place Tuesday for the woman killed in last week's murder suicide outside a Moncks Corner bank. Berkeley County officials released the 9-1-1 calls made from the scene of the shooting... Just a week ago, Cox filed a report with police saying she and Boyette had a year-long relationship that ended on July 4 and Boyette was extremely unhappy about the break up. Following that report, SLED Chief Mark Keel had Boyette investigated and that very day Boyette was suspended. A day later, Boyette resigned. Witnesses say Boyette visited Cox at Southcoast Bank twice on Friday where she worked as a teller. He brought her flowers the first time and wielded a gun the next, shooting Cox, then killing himself in the bank's parking lot. A 9-1-1 call made by a person at the scene painted a horrific picture... Boyette's funeral was held over the weekend. Services for Cox and Boyette both took place at Dial-Murray Funeral Home. [Full article here]
MAN ACCUSED OF MURDER, SUICIDE, BURIED IN MONCKS CORNER
abcnews4.com
By Natalie Caula
Posted: Jul 25, 2011 1:36 PM PST
Updated: Jul 28, 2011 5:08 AM PST
[Excerpts] Charles Boyette was laid to rest Monday in Moncks Corner where visitors paid their respects for the man police say he took his own life after killing Maryann Cox... But there may have been signs of trouble. A police report filed about a week before the slaying shows Cox and the former SLED agent, Boyette were having a romantic relationship, one that was becoming shaky. The report says Cox ended the relationship after an "incident" took place and that she didn't want him to contact her anymore. Berkeley County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dan Moon says they cannot say what she accused him of or release the statement included in the incident report filed on July 16th. Moon says the information is restricted because the incident is still under investigation... In a press release on Monday, Moncks Corner Police authorities say Cox later refused to cooperate with their investigation. The day after SLED Chief Keel suspended Boyette, he turned in his letter of resignation. Two days after that, Cox and Boyette were dead with many questions left unanswered. "That's the sad part. That cowardly, he's taken himself out," Green said. The investigation into the murder/suicide is closed, according to the Moncks Corner Police Department. Berkeley County Sheriff's authorities say their investigation into the original incident is still underway... "When she was walking outside she was carrying the flowers. From what it looked like, he was walking up to her and he did what he did and the flowers were laying in between the bodies after it was done," Kevin Timmons said. Timmons, who works next to the bank at Baron's Department store saw it all unfold and says Boyette had shown up to the bank earlier to give Cox flowers. He says Boyette came back when she was leaving the bank, where she worked as a teller, before taking both their lives. [Full article here]
SHOOTER WAS SLED AGENT SUSPENDED FOR HARASSING VICTIM
Berkeley Independent
By Dan Brown
Published Tuesday, July 26, 2011
[Excerpts] The man who shot and killed Southcoast Bank employee Mary Ann Cox was a former SLED agent who lost his job last week because of a complaint filed against him by the victim. In a release from Kathryn Richardson, spokesperson with the State Law Enforcement Division, agent Charles Boyette, 61, of Moncks Corner was immediately suspended following the filing of a complaint against him by Cox... The report went on to say that Boyette was “very unhappy with the breakup,” and Cox provided a detailed voluntary statement to police concerning Boyette’s actions, which included photographed text messages sent by Boyette to Cox’s cellphone. Cox also advised the BCSO that she did not want the investigation to proceed any further, only that she did not want Boyette to contact her anymore. Boyette, 61, was a supervisor in SLED’s intelligence division working out of its Charleston office. After Cox filed the complaint, the BCSO met with Boyette and placed him on notice not to engage in any further contact the victim. On July 19, the BCSO contacted SLED, Boyette’s employer, and advised them of the complaint filed by Cox. Additional documents included in the SLED release show that on July 19, SLED Chief Mark Keel asked BCSO Sheriff Wayne DeWitt to investigate the harassment incident involving Boyette, “since the allegations are serious in nature and to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.” A second letter from Keel written on July 19 and hand delivered to Boyette announced his indefinite suspension without pay. Boyette then resigned from SLED on Wednesday, July 20... Two days later, according to MCPD Lt. Michael Roach, Boyette approached Cox as she left the Moncks Corner Southcoast Bank branch around 5:30 p.m. and fired three shots, two of them striking Cox in the shoulder and the back... [Full article here]
NEW: FORMER SLED AGENT'S MURDER-SUICIDE INVESTIGATION COMPLETE
Count on News 2
Published: July 25, 2011
[Excerpts] ...Moncks Corner investigators located two eye witnesses and along with physical evidence confirmed the account of the shooting. The Moncks Corner PD says this case is closed... [Full article here]
[SC] Husband of OIDV murder victim Maryann Powell Cox speaks out
Transcribed from above video, not appearing in article:
"...He says his wife filed a complaint against Boyette with the BCSO the Monday before her death (7/18/11)... The sheriff's office is yet to release what exactly happened, but Alan Cox says he knows. 'There was an incident Saturday (7/16/11), where he kidnapped her and held her hostage for 6 hours of hell. And then Sunday (7/17/11) she came to me and we had 6 hours of crying, trying to decide what to do.' Boyette was suspended without pay when the agency found out about the complaint. Boyette resigned the following day, and her husband says Maryann decided to drop the charges. 'She went back 2 days later (7/20/11), and dropped charges. She didn't rescind anything, just dropped charges. She didn't want her children drug into it'..."
HUSBAND OF MURDER VICTIM SPEAKS OUT
abcnews4.com
By Lia Sestric
Posted: Jul 26, 2011
Updated: Jul 29, 2011 11:39 AM PST
[Excerpts] Maryann Cox was remembered at a funeral service Tuesday, after an ex-lover and SLED Agent shot and killed her Friday outside of Southcoast bank. Maryann was still married, but separated from her husband, Alan Cox, who gave her eulogy. He said their two sons, meant the world to her. "I know her thoughts that last minute. She was thinking of her children, and what she can do to save them," Alan said... "I didn't know about the affair until a month ago. I found out and confronted her," he said. "She was devastated, but she was trying to break it off with the gentlemen." Alan said his wife was not only involved with Boyette, but an additional man. He said this made Boyette jealous and his wife feared for her safety. "He didn't care if she went back to me, but didn't want her to go to anyone else, he said he would kill her if she did," Alan said. Alan said he knew Boyette and his family well, and has empathy for them. "His family is as much the victim as we are," he said. Alan said the separation would have ended in October, which would have marked one year. He said the two of them were going to discuss their relationship at that point. Now he will never get the chance. On his left finger was his wedding band. He also was wearing her ring. "It's my turn to wear it again and I will do so until I die." [Full article here]
MARY ANN COX REPORTED FRIGHTFUL INCIDENT WITH FORMER SLED AGENT DAYS BEFORE SHOOTING: BOYETTE ALLEGEDLY VOWED 'ROMEO AND JULIET' ENDING
The Post and Courier - Charleston, SC
By Allyson Bird, Andy Paras, Glenn Smith
Friday, July 29, 2011
[Excerpts] Just days before former SLED agent Charlie Boyette killed his former lover and himself, the terrified woman told investigators he had held her hostage at gunpoint for hours and sexually assaulted her... Mary Ann Cox told officers that Boyette came to her apartment armed and uninvited on July 16, demanding that they get drunk together. He raged. He cried. He begged. He jammed a pistol into her belly and later aimed the gun at his chest and pulled the trigger... In a written statement to Berkeley County sheriff's deputies, Cox said she pleaded with Boyette to let her go. He refused, she said, telling her, "This is going to be a (expletive) Romeo and Juliet." ... "He said we both were going to die today... I kept telling him no, he did not want to do that. He kept saying yes he did and that there was 'no going back'"... She told her story to Berkeley County sheriff's deputies two days later, but insisted that she didn't want to go forward with charges of kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct against Boyette. "I just want him to stay away from me," she wrote in a statement. "I do not want to see him ever again"... "I was absolutely shocked," SLED Chief Mark Keel said this week. "I could not believe it. Trust me"... On the morning of July 14, Cox said, she went to take her puppy for a walk and found Boyette lying on the porch of her Pinopolis Road home. He went inside, refused to leave and demanded that she spend the day with him... Cox told deputies that Boyette kept saying, "This is going to be a Romeo and Juliet." She also noticed that he was carrying a pistol, which he had not done during the entire span of their affair. "At that point I thought he meant he was going to shoot me and then shoot himself, so I asked him and he said yes he was," she stated... Boyette begged her to dump her new boyfriend and get back with him. She said no. Cox noticed that Boyette was carrying his pistol again and had parked his sport utility vehicle behind her car, blocking her in. When she told him she needed to leave, Boyette pulled out his pistol and started yelling that he was going to shoot himself and that she would likely be charged with his murder. Then he started crying and saying there was no going back. Boyette's friend Mark called and tried to talk him out of doing anything rash. That seemed to calm him down for a spell, but then Boyette went after Cox and assaulted her. He repeatedly threatened her with the gun and tried to shoot himself in the chest. He reportedly assaulted her again, then left as if nothing had happened. Cox bolted to a friend's house and called her landlord to say she was moving out... Cox told sheriff's deputies her story on July 18, but insisted she did not want an investigation into the incidents or to see Boyette lose his job one year shy of retirement. She considered the episode a personal matter and just wanted Boyette to leave her alone, according to an incident report. Chief Deputy Butch Henery told Boyette to stay away from Cox. Deputies also alerted SLED, and officials there asked Berkeley County to investigate the allegations. Keel also suspended Boyette without pay pending the results of that probe... [Full article here]
BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
abcnews4.com
By Lia Sestric
Posted: Jul 26, 2011
Updated: Jul 29, 2011 11:39 AM PST
[Excerpts] Maryann Cox was remembered at a funeral service Tuesday, after an ex-lover and SLED Agent shot and killed her Friday outside of Southcoast bank. Maryann was still married, but separated from her husband, Alan Cox, who gave her eulogy. He said their two sons, meant the world to her. "I know her thoughts that last minute. She was thinking of her children, and what she can do to save them," Alan said... "I didn't know about the affair until a month ago. I found out and confronted her," he said. "She was devastated, but she was trying to break it off with the gentlemen." Alan said his wife was not only involved with Boyette, but an additional man. He said this made Boyette jealous and his wife feared for her safety. "He didn't care if she went back to me, but didn't want her to go to anyone else, he said he would kill her if she did," Alan said. Alan said he knew Boyette and his family well, and has empathy for them. "His family is as much the victim as we are," he said. Alan said the separation would have ended in October, which would have marked one year. He said the two of them were going to discuss their relationship at that point. Now he will never get the chance. On his left finger was his wedding band. He also was wearing her ring. "It's my turn to wear it again and I will do so until I die." [Full article here]
MARY ANN COX REPORTED FRIGHTFUL INCIDENT WITH FORMER SLED AGENT DAYS BEFORE SHOOTING: BOYETTE ALLEGEDLY VOWED 'ROMEO AND JULIET' ENDING
The Post and Courier - Charleston, SC
By Allyson Bird, Andy Paras, Glenn Smith
Friday, July 29, 2011
[Excerpts] Just days before former SLED agent Charlie Boyette killed his former lover and himself, the terrified woman told investigators he had held her hostage at gunpoint for hours and sexually assaulted her... Mary Ann Cox told officers that Boyette came to her apartment armed and uninvited on July 16, demanding that they get drunk together. He raged. He cried. He begged. He jammed a pistol into her belly and later aimed the gun at his chest and pulled the trigger... In a written statement to Berkeley County sheriff's deputies, Cox said she pleaded with Boyette to let her go. He refused, she said, telling her, "This is going to be a (expletive) Romeo and Juliet." ... "He said we both were going to die today... I kept telling him no, he did not want to do that. He kept saying yes he did and that there was 'no going back'"... She told her story to Berkeley County sheriff's deputies two days later, but insisted that she didn't want to go forward with charges of kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct against Boyette. "I just want him to stay away from me," she wrote in a statement. "I do not want to see him ever again"... "I was absolutely shocked," SLED Chief Mark Keel said this week. "I could not believe it. Trust me"... On the morning of July 14, Cox said, she went to take her puppy for a walk and found Boyette lying on the porch of her Pinopolis Road home. He went inside, refused to leave and demanded that she spend the day with him... Cox told deputies that Boyette kept saying, "This is going to be a Romeo and Juliet." She also noticed that he was carrying a pistol, which he had not done during the entire span of their affair. "At that point I thought he meant he was going to shoot me and then shoot himself, so I asked him and he said yes he was," she stated... Boyette begged her to dump her new boyfriend and get back with him. She said no. Cox noticed that Boyette was carrying his pistol again and had parked his sport utility vehicle behind her car, blocking her in. When she told him she needed to leave, Boyette pulled out his pistol and started yelling that he was going to shoot himself and that she would likely be charged with his murder. Then he started crying and saying there was no going back. Boyette's friend Mark called and tried to talk him out of doing anything rash. That seemed to calm him down for a spell, but then Boyette went after Cox and assaulted her. He repeatedly threatened her with the gun and tried to shoot himself in the chest. He reportedly assaulted her again, then left as if nothing had happened. Cox bolted to a friend's house and called her landlord to say she was moving out... Cox told sheriff's deputies her story on July 18, but insisted she did not want an investigation into the incidents or to see Boyette lose his job one year shy of retirement. She considered the episode a personal matter and just wanted Boyette to leave her alone, according to an incident report. Chief Deputy Butch Henery told Boyette to stay away from Cox. Deputies also alerted SLED, and officials there asked Berkeley County to investigate the allegations. Keel also suspended Boyette without pay pending the results of that probe... [Full article here]
BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
CASE NUMBER: 201107030584
FROM: INCIDENT REPORT
DATE: 07/19/2011
INCIDENT DATE: 07/14/2011
ON 07/18/11 I MET AND INTERVIEWED MARY ANN COX AT CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION IN REFERENCE TO THE ABOVE INCIDENT. COX ADVISED THAT SHE HAD A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH CHARLIE BOYETTE FOR OVER A YEAR. COX ADVISED THAT SHE ENDED THEIR RELATIONSHIP ON JULY 4TH 2011, AND BOYETTE WAS EXTREMELY UNHAPPY ABOUT THE BREAKUP. COX PROVIDED A DETALED VOLUNTARY STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ACTIONS OF BOYETTE (SEE STATEMENT). I PHOTOGRAPHED TEXT MESSAGES FROM THE VICTIM'S CELLULAR PHONE BETWEEN SHE AND BOYETTE. COX ADVISED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT THIS INVESTIGATION TO PROCEED ANY FURTHER. SHE STATED THAT SHE JUST WANTED BOYETTE TO NOT CONTACT HER ANYMORE. CHIEF HENEREY OF THE BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE MET WITH BOYETTE, AND PLACED HIM ON NOTICE NOT TO CONTACT THE VICTIM. THIS REPORT ALONG WITH THE VICTIM'S STATEMENT AND PERTINENT PAPERWORK WILL BE FORWARDED OVER TO SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION INTERNAL
FROM: SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
DATE: 07/22/2011
ON 07/19/11 THE BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION REQUESTING THAT THIS AGENCY INVESTIGATE THE ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING BOYETTE ON 07/20/11. VICTIM COX PROVIDED THIS INVESTIGATOR WITH AN E-MAIL SENT TO HER ON 07/17/11 FROM BOYETTE. [REDACTED LINE] ON 07/20/11 MYSELF ALONG WITH CAPTAIN OLLIC MET WITH COX. AT THAT TIME COX ADVISED THAT SHE WISH NOT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE INVESTIGATION. COX ADVISED THAT THIS MATTER IS EXTREMELY PERSONAL IN NATURE, AND WISH FOR IT TO REMAIN THAT WAY. COX WAS EXPLAINED THE PROCESS IN REFERENCE TO CRIMINAL ACTION AGAINST BOYETTE, BUT SHE REFUSED, AND WISH TO KEEP THIS MATTER PRIVATE. COX SIGNED A REFUSAL TO PROSECUTE FORM, AND PROVIDED THIS INVESTIGATOR WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT. COX WAS ADVISED THAT BOYETTE HAD RESIGNED FROM HIS EMPLOYER. ATTORNEY LIONEL LOFTIN CONTATED THIS OFFICE AND ADVISED THAT HE HAVE BEEN RETAINED ON BOYETTE'S BEHALF. ARRANGEMENTS WERE BEING MADE WITH LOFTIN TO HAVE HIS CLIENT INTERVIEWED BY THIS OFFICE CONCERNING THE ALLEGATIONS. THIS INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING.
FROM: SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
DATE: 07/26/2011
DURING MY INVESTIGATION I HAVE SPOKEN WITH COX ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. DURING THESE MEETINGS AND OR PHONE CONVERSATIONS, I WENT OVER HER CASE AND ADVISED HER THAT WE WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE ALLEGATIONS OF HER COMPLAINT. DURING OUR INITIAL INTERVIEW COX ADCVISED THAT SHE JUST WANTED TO FILE A REPORT BUT DID NOT WISH TO PURSUE CHARGES. SHE STATED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT TO SEE BOYETTE LOSE HIS JOB DUE TO HE FACT THAT HE ONLY HAD A YEAR LEFT BEFORE HE RETIRED. IT WAS EXPLAINED THAT ALL INFORMATION THAT SHE HAD GIVEN US WOULD HAVE TO BE REPORTED TO HIS EMPLOYER. SHE STATED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. SHE JUST WANTED HIM TO LEAVE HER ALONE. EACH TIME THAT I SPOKE WITH HER SHE STATED THAT SHE DID NOT WISH TO PURSUE CHARGES AS STATED IN PREVIOUS VERBAL STATEMENTS AND ON PREVIOUS SUPPLEMENT REPORT. SHE STATED THAT IT WAS A PERSONAL MATTER AND WANTED IT TO STAY THAT WAY. SHE STATED THAT SHE WAS NO LONGER STAYING AT HER PLACE OF RESIDENCE. SHE WOULD BE STAYING WITH A FRIEND. I MET WITH HER TWO MORE TIMES SINCE HER INITIAL COMPLAINT. EACH TIME THAT I SPOKE WITH HER SHE STATED THAT SHE HAD NOT HEARD FROM BOYETTE. SHE FELT COMFORTABLE THAT HE WAS HONORING CHIEF DEPUTY (BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE) REQUEST TO LEAVE HER ALONE. DURING THE INVESTIGATION WE RECEIVED A PHONE CALL/LETTER FROM LIONEL LOFTIN WHO STATED THAT HE WAS REPRESENTING BOYETTE AND THAT ANY QUESTIONING WOULD GO THROUGH HIM. ARRANGEMENTS WERE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING MADE TO MEET WITH LOFTIN AND BOYETTE IN AN ATTEMPT TO HAVE COX PURSUE CHARGES. I REQUESTED THAT SHE MEET WITH CAPTAIN OLLIC SO THAT HE WOULD BE ABLE TO TALK TO HER. DURING THE MEETING SHE WAS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBLE CHARGES THAT COULD BE BROUGHT, ONCE A FULL INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETED, AND IF PROBABLE CAUSE EXISTED. SHE WAS STILL INSISTING THAT NO CHARGES BE FILED. IT WAS AT THAT TIME SHE WROTE A STATEMENT STATING THAT SHE DID WISH TO PURSUE CHARGES. SHE ALSO FILLED OUT A REFUSAL TO PROSECUTE FORM. SHE VOLUNTARILY REQUESTED THE BERKELY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE TO TERMINATE IT'S INVESTIAGTION OF THE ALLEGATIONS THAT SHE REPORTED. SHE REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY TYPE OF PROSECUTION. COX HAS NOT CALLED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT BOYETTE BOTHERING HER SINCE OUR LAST MEETING. WHILE I WAS CONDUCTING BUSINESS AT MY OFFICE I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A SHOOTING AT THE SOUTH COAST BANK IN THE CITY OF MONCKS CORNER. I RESPONDED TO THE INCIDENT LOCATION TO ASSIST AS NEEDED. I LEARNED THAT BOTH COX AND BOYETTE HAD EXPIRED, AS A RESULT OF THE SHOOTING. THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING BOYETTE IS CLEARED BY SUSPECT DEATH.
FROM: INCIDENT REPORT
DATE: 07/19/2011
INCIDENT DATE: 07/14/2011
ON 07/18/11 I MET AND INTERVIEWED MARY ANN COX AT CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION IN REFERENCE TO THE ABOVE INCIDENT. COX ADVISED THAT SHE HAD A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH CHARLIE BOYETTE FOR OVER A YEAR. COX ADVISED THAT SHE ENDED THEIR RELATIONSHIP ON JULY 4TH 2011, AND BOYETTE WAS EXTREMELY UNHAPPY ABOUT THE BREAKUP. COX PROVIDED A DETALED VOLUNTARY STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ACTIONS OF BOYETTE (SEE STATEMENT). I PHOTOGRAPHED TEXT MESSAGES FROM THE VICTIM'S CELLULAR PHONE BETWEEN SHE AND BOYETTE. COX ADVISED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT THIS INVESTIGATION TO PROCEED ANY FURTHER. SHE STATED THAT SHE JUST WANTED BOYETTE TO NOT CONTACT HER ANYMORE. CHIEF HENEREY OF THE BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE MET WITH BOYETTE, AND PLACED HIM ON NOTICE NOT TO CONTACT THE VICTIM. THIS REPORT ALONG WITH THE VICTIM'S STATEMENT AND PERTINENT PAPERWORK WILL BE FORWARDED OVER TO SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION INTERNAL
FROM: SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
DATE: 07/22/2011
ON 07/19/11 THE BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION REQUESTING THAT THIS AGENCY INVESTIGATE THE ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING BOYETTE ON 07/20/11. VICTIM COX PROVIDED THIS INVESTIGATOR WITH AN E-MAIL SENT TO HER ON 07/17/11 FROM BOYETTE. [REDACTED LINE] ON 07/20/11 MYSELF ALONG WITH CAPTAIN OLLIC MET WITH COX. AT THAT TIME COX ADVISED THAT SHE WISH NOT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE INVESTIGATION. COX ADVISED THAT THIS MATTER IS EXTREMELY PERSONAL IN NATURE, AND WISH FOR IT TO REMAIN THAT WAY. COX WAS EXPLAINED THE PROCESS IN REFERENCE TO CRIMINAL ACTION AGAINST BOYETTE, BUT SHE REFUSED, AND WISH TO KEEP THIS MATTER PRIVATE. COX SIGNED A REFUSAL TO PROSECUTE FORM, AND PROVIDED THIS INVESTIGATOR WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT. COX WAS ADVISED THAT BOYETTE HAD RESIGNED FROM HIS EMPLOYER. ATTORNEY LIONEL LOFTIN CONTATED THIS OFFICE AND ADVISED THAT HE HAVE BEEN RETAINED ON BOYETTE'S BEHALF. ARRANGEMENTS WERE BEING MADE WITH LOFTIN TO HAVE HIS CLIENT INTERVIEWED BY THIS OFFICE CONCERNING THE ALLEGATIONS. THIS INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING.
FROM: SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
DATE: 07/26/2011
DURING MY INVESTIGATION I HAVE SPOKEN WITH COX ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. DURING THESE MEETINGS AND OR PHONE CONVERSATIONS, I WENT OVER HER CASE AND ADVISED HER THAT WE WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE ALLEGATIONS OF HER COMPLAINT. DURING OUR INITIAL INTERVIEW COX ADCVISED THAT SHE JUST WANTED TO FILE A REPORT BUT DID NOT WISH TO PURSUE CHARGES. SHE STATED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT TO SEE BOYETTE LOSE HIS JOB DUE TO HE FACT THAT HE ONLY HAD A YEAR LEFT BEFORE HE RETIRED. IT WAS EXPLAINED THAT ALL INFORMATION THAT SHE HAD GIVEN US WOULD HAVE TO BE REPORTED TO HIS EMPLOYER. SHE STATED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. SHE JUST WANTED HIM TO LEAVE HER ALONE. EACH TIME THAT I SPOKE WITH HER SHE STATED THAT SHE DID NOT WISH TO PURSUE CHARGES AS STATED IN PREVIOUS VERBAL STATEMENTS AND ON PREVIOUS SUPPLEMENT REPORT. SHE STATED THAT IT WAS A PERSONAL MATTER AND WANTED IT TO STAY THAT WAY. SHE STATED THAT SHE WAS NO LONGER STAYING AT HER PLACE OF RESIDENCE. SHE WOULD BE STAYING WITH A FRIEND. I MET WITH HER TWO MORE TIMES SINCE HER INITIAL COMPLAINT. EACH TIME THAT I SPOKE WITH HER SHE STATED THAT SHE HAD NOT HEARD FROM BOYETTE. SHE FELT COMFORTABLE THAT HE WAS HONORING CHIEF DEPUTY (BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE) REQUEST TO LEAVE HER ALONE. DURING THE INVESTIGATION WE RECEIVED A PHONE CALL/LETTER FROM LIONEL LOFTIN WHO STATED THAT HE WAS REPRESENTING BOYETTE AND THAT ANY QUESTIONING WOULD GO THROUGH HIM. ARRANGEMENTS WERE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING MADE TO MEET WITH LOFTIN AND BOYETTE IN AN ATTEMPT TO HAVE COX PURSUE CHARGES. I REQUESTED THAT SHE MEET WITH CAPTAIN OLLIC SO THAT HE WOULD BE ABLE TO TALK TO HER. DURING THE MEETING SHE WAS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBLE CHARGES THAT COULD BE BROUGHT, ONCE A FULL INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETED, AND IF PROBABLE CAUSE EXISTED. SHE WAS STILL INSISTING THAT NO CHARGES BE FILED. IT WAS AT THAT TIME SHE WROTE A STATEMENT STATING THAT SHE DID WISH TO PURSUE CHARGES. SHE ALSO FILLED OUT A REFUSAL TO PROSECUTE FORM. SHE VOLUNTARILY REQUESTED THE BERKELY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE TO TERMINATE IT'S INVESTIAGTION OF THE ALLEGATIONS THAT SHE REPORTED. SHE REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY TYPE OF PROSECUTION. COX HAS NOT CALLED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT BOYETTE BOTHERING HER SINCE OUR LAST MEETING. WHILE I WAS CONDUCTING BUSINESS AT MY OFFICE I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A SHOOTING AT THE SOUTH COAST BANK IN THE CITY OF MONCKS CORNER. I RESPONDED TO THE INCIDENT LOCATION TO ASSIST AS NEEDED. I LEARNED THAT BOTH COX AND BOYETTE HAD EXPIRED, AS A RESULT OF THE SHOOTING. THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING BOYETTE IS CLEARED BY SUSPECT DEATH.
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety lethal fatality fatalities murder south carolina state politics]
This story brought back very scary memories of my experience with a SLED Agent ex-boyfriend of mine. Just about everything Mrs.Cox spoke of happened to me. The threats, the gun, the abuse.....but it's the FEAR that paralyzes you. He eventually SNAPPED and ended-up in a bathtub with a gun in his mouth the entire time holding me hostage. I made my way to the phone before he could kill me, and then himself as he had threatened over & over. I KNOW this woman's fear. This could have been MY story. I thank the Lord above I was spared from this man's madness.
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