Life Insurance Motive in Mother's Murderous Rampage

WYFF 4 News has reported that a woman has been charged with murdering four family members, two of which were her adult children, in what may have been fueled by a desire to collect on the deceased's life insurance policies.

It took investigators ten days to charge S.H., 48, with the death of her two sons, Marshall, 20, and Matthew, 23, along with her former husband Mark, 52, and stepmother, L.A.B., 64, in Pickens County, S.C.

The announcement of her arrest was made at a news conference on October 25 by solicitor W.W., Sheriff C.D.S. and SLED Chief M.K.

C.D.S. said that the community's "serenity was broken by a horrendous act of evil."

He also stated that gaining a substantial payout from the victim's life insurance policies was S.H.'s motive.

All of the deaths were ruled as homicides, save for Matthew's, immediately following the event. Test results and forensics were necessary before determining that Matthew's was also a homicide.

S.H. allegedly wanted it to appear as if Matthew killed himself after murdering the others – but the forensic evidence proved that was not the case.

Sheriff's deputies and a State Law Enforcement Division agent arrested S.H. on October 24. She has been charged with four counts of murder and another four counts for possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

W.W. stated that S.H.'s statements did not match what was collected via forensic and scientific evidence. Additionally, S.H. was the owner of the weapon used in the murders, a .380 caliber gun.

W.W. said that numerous life insurance policies on the family members – all naming S.H. as the beneficiary – were for a "significant" amount of money.

The case may qualify for the death penalty but the decision has yet to be made if it will be tried that way.

Mark's sister, Suzy, claims to have been suspicious of her former sister-in-law from the start. Suzy said, "I knew it in my heart. We told everyone Matthew …did not do this. He was a good man. She was about greed and control because the boys were getting older and making a life for themselves."

D.H., a former wife of Mark's said of S.H.'s arrest, "Seeing her in chains, I hope she rots in hell with them on."

E.B., S.H.'s sister, had called 911 after being called to the home due to "an emergency" – and saw Matthew in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head and a gun sitting on a bedside table.

The report S.H. gave to deputies is as follows: "(S.H.) stated her son has been suicidal in the past and has had problems with controlled substances. She stated that she had been at the residence all night and did not hear any gunshots. She stated her son had left her a note on the kitchen counter."

S.H. further said that having family living next door, and concerned for their welfare, that the police should check that home also. The deceased, Mark and Marshall, were found there.