GUILTY SC - Rev. Phillip McCreary, 51, shot to death, Barnwell County, 6 July 2007

[Bobbisangel]

This man sounds like a wonderful minister. One I would have loved to hear preach. I like his style of preaching and believe he did walk the talk. I don't think he was having an affair at all. I don't think that his wife was involved either. In this day and age it wouldn't surprise me if someone who was high as a kite didn't just decide to see how it would feel to kill someone....a thrill kill. Probably more than one person. It doesn't look like it was a robbery as they didn't take his truck but did he have any money with him and was it still in his wallet...credit cards? Maybe someone or someones looking for their next high and he tried to talk to them about the Lord instead of giving them his money. I just hope that LE finds whoever did this.

He just became a grandfather a few days before his death :furious:

 

[mom3dd]

I think it was a random evil act, by person unknown to him. IMO

 

[Vegas Bride]

I tend to think it was a planned killing but not by the wife. From what I've read, he preached against drugs and he may have been seen as a threat to the local drug dealers. Being shot in the head sounds to me like a drug hit. It had to have been well known how he spent a lot of time fishing, someone who wanted him gone would not have a problem finding him there alone.

VB

 

[s_finch]

http://www.thestate.com/312/story/115447.html

Here's the latest article. He was shot once in the back of the head which makes it sound like it was planned IMO. Our sheriff has called in SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), the BIG BOYS from Columbia which IMHO is a good idea. Unless someone talks this will be a hard case to work. We do have lots of drug activity in this county and the town he was preaching in has some rough characters. From what I've read about the preacher I too am wondering if it was a drug hit and knowing our sheriff very seldom calls in SLED, I think he too must be thinking this one might get nasty/complicated/unsolvable.

We had a case a few months ago where a guy had threated his pregnant girlfriend on more than one occassion, he picked her up from work and was the last person to see her alive and they might could have gotten evidence on him if LE had impounded his car immediately before he had a chance to clean it. They're pretty sure they know where he dumped her body and they searched the swamp for about a week but couldn't find her. He got away scot free and has custody of their 2 year old child. So no doubt the sheriff doesn't want another case screw up and with the preacher case there's going to be lots of people yelling very loudly if a mistake is made or if it appears the sheriff isn't giving it his best. Also, if this case isn't handled properly, there will be lots of folks saying it's a race issue.

 

[txsvicki]

I hope they're also looking at all the church members. Maybe someone was stealing from the church or the preacher was helping an abused wife to get out of a bad situation. The preacher may even have been told something by a visitor to his church.

 

[MeoW333]

I don't think it was the wife, either. Maybe one of his parishioners was having a problem and confided in him, then got paranoid and decided to silence him by murdering him. It would be easy to conceal a handgun and walk up to him, make small talk, McCreary turns around to bait the hook, and the murderer shoots him in the back of the head. Many people confide in preachers, like priests, yet perhaps someone confided a serious secret that they decided they never wanted it to get out.
My prayers for the family..

 

[SeriouslySearching]

BLACKVILLE, SC (WIS) - Tuesday, the family of murdered associate pastor, Phillip McCreary, faced the man accused of killing him.
As William Owens came court in a bullet-proof vest, he saw his family and welled up with tears.
Owens, 31, of Williston, is accused in the brutal shooting death of Reverend McCreary at the pastor's favorite fishing spot along the Edisto River.

Investigators say the man accused of killing McCreary did not act alone. Owens' girlfriend Hariet McKiney of Maryland is also charged with murder in the case. Officers brought her to South Carolina on Monday.
Officers will not reveal why they think the couple is responsible, or a possible motive. And for now, Owens is silent.


http://www.wistv.com/global/story.asp?s=6803239

 

[Bobbisangel]

I am so glad that they caught these two. I can't wait to hear the reason for this murder. If it isn't about drugs or money for drugs I will be shocked.

The minister did preach about drugs but what he said was to love the drug addict and to try and help them. He said that he has an addicted relative as most families do in this day and age. I don't see how anyone could want to kill him over his drug messages.

I would guess that it was a random killing and that the man didn't even know that the minister was a minister. We should hear more after the next hearings.

 

[Liz]

I'd read something a couple days ago, after the female suspect's arrest, that this may have to do with the pastor's involvement in a domestic issue between the perps.

The old saying, "No good deed goes unpunished" springs to mind.

 

[Coriess]

It's very sad that one must think twice before helping others - this world is going down the tubes.

 

[OkieGranny]

From December 2008:

http://www.thepeoplesentinel.com/ne...-gets-life-without-parole-murder#.VgjiI7T8FWY

William Allen Owens, 32, of 1650 Halford St., Williston, was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the July 6, 2007 shooting of the Rev. Phillip McCreary...

Owens was charged with McCreary's murder July 16 - as was his former live-in girlfriend, Renee McKinney, 33, of Maryland. McKinney's charge was later reduced to accessory after the fact of murder...

Minutes before, shortly after 1 p.m., the seven-woman, five-man jury had returned a guilty verdict after deliberating a little more than an hour.

 

[U2forever]

Godspeed Reverend McCreary

I live in Aiken County, between Barnwell County and Edgefield County. It's pretty safe here, FWIW.

Judge Early put Owens where he belongs, under the prison.

Thanks for posting OkieGranny.