Kenneth Myers

Case record: Kenneth Myers

Background

Kenneth Lee Myers was 47. He killed four women and then took his own life between July 2 and July 3.

Myers’s victims were:

• Angela Myers, 25-year-old wife of Myers, of Wagener
• Tabatha T. Brown, the twin sister of Angela Myers
• Vicky May Hook Brown, 50-year-old mother of Angela Myers and Tabatha Brown
• Esther Baldwin, 47-year-old ex-girlfriend of Ken Myers, of Wagener

A suicide note written by Myers was found by the Baldwin family in the vehicle he was driving at the time of his death.

Friends of last casualty described Myers as having financial and marital difficulties and as heavily armed, acting erratically, and being paranoid-acting.

Myers was described as controlling and abusive by those close to Baldwin. They said he kept her isolated and refused to let her wear makeup or keep a job. The Augusta Chronicle Experts offered rationale behind killing sprees, stating that “Lots of times you hear in the media that a person ‘just snaps,’ but when you have time to examine the facts you find that generally isn't the case,” quoting Roger Depue, founder of The Academy Group.

Roger Depue, a retired chief of behavioral sciences in the FBI, said:

"Lots of times you hear in the media that a person ‘just snaps,' but when you have time to examine the facts you find that generally isn't the case,"

He also said of the alleged conversation Myers had about “snapping”:

"You find the person was harboring some anger and ill feelings or a perception that the victims were doing something and deserved to die."

He referred to the concept of “leakage” and said:

"When a person is harboring evil thoughts or intense emotions they will seep out,"

He added:

"The person will either intentionally make a statement like that or will leak his desire,"

The commentary in the account further quoted Depue about an example and stated:

"When (James Huberty) left home with his weapons he said, ‘I'm going to hunt humans,'"

Depue also said:

"Had his wife picked up the phone and called 911 ... she might have saved a lot of lives."

Greg Loughlin, executive director of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, saw Baldwin’s murder as Myers’s way of being “controlling until the end,” and said:

"controlling until the end."

Peggy Walker, chairwoman of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, said:

"What that tells me is that this is a person who is filled with rage and he doesn't want to leave this Earth until he has taken out everyone who he blames,"

The accounts stated it remained unclear whether Angela Myers was also a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband. Loughlin said:

"Based on the circumstances, it's highly probable,"

He added:

"When we look at fatality reviews, I haven't seen a single case where the person who was killed wasn't taking steps to separate,"

Loughlin advised:

"Loughlin advises that those in abusive relationships find a domestic violence advocate to help create a plan before trying to leave."

Timeline

• July 2 (before 6 p.m.) — Myers arrived at his wife’s family’s home on Daytona Road before 6 p.m. and fatally shot Angela Myers, Tabatha T. Brown, and Vicky May Hook Brown.
• July 2 (around 6 p.m.) — Officers found the bodies at 6 p.m.
• July 2 (after fleeing the Daytona Road address) — Myers traveled to Baldwin’s home on Big Branch Road and fatally shot Esther Baldwin.
• Around 1 a.m. (day after July 2) — Deputies responded to a wellness check at Baldwin’s home and discovered her body.
• Around 1 a.m. (later that morning) — Myers was seen driving Baldwin’s vehicle and was chased back to the Daytona Road home.
• July 3 — Myers tried to hit deputies with Baldwin’s vehicle; deputies opened fire; Myers then took his own life.
• July 3 (time of death not otherwise stated) — A suicide note written by Myers was found in the vehicle he was driving at the time of his death.
• July 4, 2011 (Monday) — Dinah Baldwin said police told the family Myers had a written “hit list.”
• July 4, 2011 (Sunday) — Police later spotted Myers in Baldwin’s stolen truck and chased him to his wife’s house on Daytona Road, where he shot himself.
• July 7, 2011 — A report stated Myers claimed to have trained with a militia in Michigan, according to his former best friend.
• July 9, 2011 — An article included commentary from experts about spree killings.

The offence

Myers carried out a shooting rampage in Wagener, fatally shooting four women:

• Angela Myers (25)
• Tabatha T. Brown (twin sister of Angela Myers)
• Vicky May Hook Brown (50)
• Esther Baldwin (47)

Investigation

A Wagener officer had been told by Myers that he would “hurt certain people if he snapped.” Aiken County investigators later said the statement was conveyed to the officer.

News of a “hit list” surfaced from a Baldwin family member who said she was told by an officer that Myers had a list of about seven people he intended to kill.

A separate account stated police told the family that Myers had a written “hit list” and said “The people who were killed and Chris (Myers' son) and two more were on it.”

The Augusta Chronicle account stated a Wagener police officer Michael Rushton told The Aiken Standard that he had known Myers for eight years and had seen him as a loving father to two grown children. The same account said Rushton had heard Myers say the bad economy had cut into his auto glass repair business and that he had been having relationship troubles with his wife.

The account further said:

• Investigators uncovered some threats Myers made to people in the past.
• Aiken County sheriff’s captain Charles Barranco stated it was “hard to say at this point in the investigation why those people were killed.”
• Barranco said “We need to try to find some answers.”

In that account, Barranco was quoted as saying:

'It's hard to say at this point in the investigation why those people were killed. 'We need to try to find some answers.'

Roger Depue said about the alleged “snapping” conversation and potential warning signs:

The Aiken Chronicle Experts article stated:

• Domestic abuse and violence were described as warning signs of someone harboring even more violent thoughts.
• Depue said:

  "Domestic abuse and violence are often warning signs of someone harboring even more violent thoughts, Depue said."

It also stated that those close to Baldwin described Myers as “controlling” and “abusive,” and that he kept her isolated and refused to let her wear makeup or keep a job.

The Splcenter.org-related entry stated Aiken County Sheriff’s Capt. Troy Elwell confirmed that his office was looking into Myers’s alleged militia ties and said:

"We located several various weapons, no explosives, and no evidence of any hidden survival materials were located,"

The account said the vehicle had been searched by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office said the note’s existence cannot be confirmed, but investigators had contacted the family and asked them to turn it in. It stated SLED would not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Arrest

Myers was not arrested; deputies chased him after the killings and opened fire when he tried to hit them with Baldwin’s vehicle. Myers then took his own life.

Arrest-related actions during the chase

The account stated Myers steered his pickup at three officers. The officers, who weren’t injured, were able to fire gunshots at the fleeing vehicle.

After a brief chase, Myers drove back to the scene of the triple murders and killed himself with the same shotgun he used earlier, as deputies arrived.

Trial

No trial information was provided.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was provided.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Myers was found dead after killing himself with a shotgun. The status of the case ended with suicide.

All four victims were killed with single gunshot wounds, according to Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton.

A witness account stated:

• Tabatha T. Brown’s 7-year-old daughter witnessed the murder of her mother and fled with her 1-year-old sibling to a neighbor’s home nearly four miles away to call for help.
• The girl identified the gunman as Ken Myers and described his vehicle to police.
• The bodies were found by officers at 6 p.m.

In one account, Baldwin’s death was described as:

• found dead from a gunshot wound to the neck about 1 a.m. Sunday inside her home near Wagener.

Aftermath

Aiken County Sheriff’s Capt. Troy Elwell and investigators continued to look into alleged militia ties. The report stated Myers talked frequently about “militia training” he received in Michigan before moving to South Carolina about a decade ago.

The Splcenter.org entry stated Myers’s former best friend Kenneth McLeoud told Hatewatch:

“He didn’t give me a lot of specifics and it was kind of sketchy, but he said he’d undergone this supposed militia training up in Michigan,” McLeoud said. “I thought he was just trying to beef himself up … talking crap, but apparently not.”

It also stated Elwell confirmed the investigation and that no explosives or evidence of hidden survival materials were located.

The Splcenter.org entry stated Myers’s firearms collection included SKS and AK-47 military-style assault rifles, and other rifles including a 30.06 and a .303. It also stated he had at least two shotguns, two 9 mm handguns, a .22-caliber revolver, and a .38-caliber snub-nose pistol. It said rifles were equipped with night-vision scopes, and he had night-vision goggles and a Kevlar bullet-proof vest, and that he bolted an older Kevlar vest to the inside of his truck for extra protection.

McLeoud said:

“He’d always carry that snub-nose in his pocket,’’ McLeoud said.

The account stated Myers subscribed to the views and philosophy of the John Birch Society and regularly read its publication New American. McLeoud said:

“He once offered me a copy, but I wasn’t particularly interested.”

It also stated:

• Myers was described as interested in becoming a Mason.
• McLeoud did not know whether Myers had made new friends in the militia movement in South Carolina.

The account described threats by Myers toward McLeoud. On a kayaking trip, the account said Myers pulled a 9 mm pistol and pointed it at McLeoud’s head. McLeoud pushed Myers’s friend’s hand away and eventually grabbed the gun. It recorded:

McLeoud recalled. Then, in October 2009, as he returned home from work, McLeoud said he was summoned by Myers.

The account recorded the quotation:

It also included a quote attributed to Myers:

“It’s loaded! It’s loaded!”

In another incident described from October 2009, the account recorded McLeoud saying Myers:

“He grabbed me, threw me against the wall, and then out the door of the camper, throwing my glass of tea at me,” McLeoud said.

It recorded:

“He then pulled his snub-nose .38 from his pocket and said if I ever stepped back over here, I’ll kill you and your family.”

It said when McLeoud’s wife heard the commotion and responded, McLeoud said she also was threatened by Myers.

The account stated McLeoud and his wife called the sheriff’s office, but Myers had fled into nearby woods and couldn’t be located when deputies arrived. It said McLeoud was frightened and scared when deputies asked him if he wanted to press charges, and that he and his family moved elsewhere and ended all contact with Myers.

Other details

Dinah Baldwin, a sister-in-law of Esther Baldwin, said police told the family Myers had a written “hit list.” She said:

“One of the policemen told us down there (at Esther Baldwin's house) about it. The people who were killed and Chris (Myers' son) and two more were on it,” Dinah Baldwin said.

She also said she did not know the last two names but that she was told they were “two drug dealers that had sold Angela (Myers' wife) meth,” quoting:

“we were told it was two drug dealers that had sold Angela (Myers' wife) meth,” she said.

Dinah Baldwin said:

“Why didn't they check on her?” Dinah Baldwin said.

In the account, she said that when they confronted SLED officers “they didn't even know anything about her.” It recorded her:

“They'd been called to that house before. They knew that there had been problems there. When we confronted the SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) officers, they didn't even know anything about her.”

The relationship history described in one account included that the relationship between Myers and Esther Baldwin was 7 1/2 years. It said:

• The relationship was good in the beginning but soon became controlling.
• Myers made Esther quit her job.
• Myers wouldn’t let her out of the house.
• Myers wouldn’t let her cut her hair or wear makeup.
• Myers threatened her life.
• Myers once held a gun to the head of her daughter, Adreann.

The same account stated Myers left Esther for Angela about a year and a half before the killings, but he continued to make harassing phone calls to Esther. It said:

• He stole her truck for the first time in November.
• After that, Baldwin slept on the tile floor near her front doorway.
• She called the police several times, but Myers was never charged.

Adreann Attaway said:

"It really scared her. It scared her more than anything," Attaway said.

The account stated:

"She had a chain and a lock at the end of her drive. He had to cut the chain to get the truck out of there. After that she tried everything she could do to get the bills paid off so she could move."

Dinah Baldwin was described watching the 11 p.m. news on Saturday and hearing about the triple murder. She said:

"I just raised my eyes and there he was, a picture of him," Dinah Baldwin said.

She said:

"I called Esther; she didn't answer and that wasn't like her."

Dinah Baldwin said they drove to Esther’s home and called Attaway and another sister. She said:

"We just didn't get her here quick enough."

She said they made several phone calls to the police, but:

“Her TV was on. One light was on and her truck was gone,” Dinah Baldwin said.

She said:

“We sat there a few minutes, because we thought Aiken County was coming and they never showed up.”

A report included a neighbor statement attributed to Robin Halsey, saying:

“He was talking about how he was going to catch it and take it home and try to save its life, and he was saying, "I don't see how people can just throw a stray dog out on the street,'' she told WRDW.”

The account included a quote from Wagener police officer Michael Rushton:

"At one point in time, whenever he tried to evade us, I saw his face for a brief second, and you could tell he was a different person," Rushton said.

It also stated Rushton said:

"He had gotten to the point where he thought he had nothing else to lose. He figured he was done for, I'm assuming, and I really hate that he had done what he had done."

Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton was quoted as stating:

"All five were killed with 20-gauge shotgun slugs, according to Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton."

The report also stated that Kenneth Lee Myers was “a self-employed glazier” and talked frequently about his alleged militia training in Michigan before moving to South Carolina about a decade ago.

It stated Myers was described as quoting the Bible forward and back and talking about becoming a minister at one point, but then acting irate. McLeoud said:

“He was paranoid-acting, thought the end was coming and the government was out to get him. “He’d quote the Bible forward and back, and had talked about becoming a minister at one point. But then out of the blue, he’d act irate. He’d get real loud and vocal and angry.”

It also stated McLeoud and his wife called the sheriff’s office after a prior incident and that Myers fled into the woods and couldn’t be located, and that McLeoud was frightened when deputies asked him if he wanted to press charges.