Cold But Not Forgotten

 

Cold but not forgotten. Unsolved cases, that is.

North Charleston Police have cleared the 15 year old murder case of Edwina Patricia Shelton. Her badly beaten body was found against a chain link fence behind an apartment on Cosgrove Avenue, nude from the waist down. She was found at 7 a.m. on a December morning in 1999 by a resident of a house next door to the apartment.

We have been contacted by a couple of retired investigators who provided some very interesting details about this murder. We have been asked to refrain from publishing those details pending the outcome of the case. As usual, we made a promise to those folks and we intend to honor it. In return, one of those retired investigators has promised to write a guest article about the case once it is done winding it’s way through the system.

Those investigators fully expect the 9th Circuit Solicitor to eventually dismiss the murder case. Considering that Anthony Andrew Heyward is already doing life without parole we don’t expect Scarlett Wilson to pursue this case with any vigor. Unless she goes for the death penalty we don’t see a lot of sense in throwing away taxpayer dollars.

 

 

 

Let’s take a run through Heyward’s criminal history.

1997 Charges:

3rd Offense Driving Under Suspension - Plead guilty. Sentenced to 90 days by Judge Victor Rawl.

Failure to Stop for Blue Lights - Plead guilty. Sentenced to 90 days, concurrent, of course.

See, they never have taken that charge seriously.

 

 

 

 

 

1999 Charges:

Threatening the Life of a Public Official - Plead guilty. Sentenced by Judge Gerald Smoak to 1 year, suspended on time served.

Breach of Trust Motor Vehicle - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor  (Schwacke?) two years later with a variety of excuses - “lack of prosecutive merit, being prosecuted on more serious charges”.

 

 

 

 

2000 Charges:

Note: Quite a few of these charges were dismissed with leave to restore with the notation “prosecuted on other charges”.

3rd Degree Arson - Found not guilty by a Charleston County jury.

Grand Larceny - Found guilty by a jury. Sentenced by Judge Thomas “Felon’s Friend” Hughston to 5 years.

1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct - Dismissed.

Assault & Battery With Intent to Kill - Dismissed.

Use of a Vehicle Without Permission - Dismissed.

1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct - Found guilty by a jury. Sentenced by the Felon’s Friend to 30 years. Yeah, we know - what a shock!

Possession of a Stolen Vehicle - Dismissed.

Grand Larceny - Dismissed.

3rd Degree Arson - Dismissed.

Carjacking - Dismissed.

1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct - Dismissed.

Kidnapping - Found guilty by a jury. Sentenced to 30 years, concurrent.

1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct - Sentenced to life without parole.

Carjacking - Found guilty by a jury. Sentenced to 15 years.

Strong Arm Robbery - Dismissed.

Kidnapping - Dismissed.

1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct - Dismissed.

Kidnapping - Found guilty by a jury. Sentenced t0 30 years.

Grand Larceny Motor Vehicle - Dismissed.

Grand Larceny - Found guilty. Sentenced to 5 years.

 

 

 

The above charges resulted from Heyward raping four women and carjacking another. Strange that this serial rapist didn’t make the news back then.

 

2001 Charges:

Note: These charges were dismissed in 2001 due to Heyward doing life without parole on charges listed above.

Murder - dismissed.

1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct - Dismissed.

3rd Degree Arson - Dismissed.

 

 

 

 

The 2001 charges stem from the rape and murder of 35 year old Willie Mae Bennett. Her body was found at Bulow’s Boat Landing after Heyward raped her, stole her car and ran over her several times.

Even while we congratulate NCPD for sticking with this case and ultimately solving it, the questions we feel compelled to ask are these. Given the evidence of Heyward being a violent serial rapist, was any information shared between area law enforcement agencies regarding Heyward and his activities? If so, it seems Shelton’s case could have been solved that much quicker even though DNA evidence processing was not as advance as it is today. Was he ever considered a suspect prior to this recent DNA hit? Has Heyward been looked at in any other unsolved murders of women from the 1980’s and 1990’s?

We saw Shelton’s daughter on the news tonight and share her satisfaction that the killer has been caught. We just hope she is aware there will probably never be a trial. Our first instinct, and probably yours, is to say, “Take it to trial.” However, the reality of the situation is that it would really make no sense to do so with Heyward already serving a life sentence. The family’s may only be able to take comfort in finally knowing who killed Edwina Shelton.