GUILTY SC- Robert Ford, Jr, 59, & Robbie Ford, 25, fatally shot in a murder-for-hire plot, August 2018,* DNA Identified Randy Dean Grainger, sentenced *

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The Double Murder of Robert & Robbie Ford is Solved

Horry County Police Department Teams with Othram to Identify the Persons Responsible for the 2018 Murders of Robert and Robbie Ford

dnasolves.com

On August 18, 2018, the Horry County Police Department responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle in the area of Cookes Circle and Highway 917. They found a 2005 Ford Escape registered to Robert Marion Ford, Jr. that had been partially burned. Other officers responded to the Ford home and found Robert Marion Ford, Jr., 59, and his son, Robbie Stetson Ford, 25, shot to death in their yard.

Crime Scene Investigators processed the scene of the abandoned car and found three cigarette butts on the ground outside the driver’s door. They also found a partially burned skull cap on the driver side floor board. A DNA profile was developed from the cigarette butts and the skull cap. That profile could not be matched to anyone and the case went unsolved for two years.

As part of their investigation, the Horry County Police Department partnered with Othram in hopes that forensic genetic genealogy could assist in identifying the person responsible for murdering the father and son and whose DNA was found at the scene of the burned car. Othram’s in-house genealogy team performed forensic genetic genealogy research to generate new leads about the suspect’s probable identity. Othram provided leads to Horry County Police Department investigators, who were able to collect a reference DNA sample from Randy Dean Grainger of Loris, South Carolina.

Grainger was arrested in August, 2020 and charged with multiple crimes, including two counts of murder. He stood trial beginning April 3, 2023, in Horry County, South Carolina. A jury convicted him of two counts of murder, two counts of criminal conspiracy, third degree arson, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. On April 6, 2023, Grainger was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Samantha Ford Rabon and Teresa Ann Martin were also arrested and charged as part of the murder investigation. Samantha Rabon, the daughter of Robert Marion Ford, Jr. and the half-sister of Robbie Stetson Ford, was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of criminal conspiracy for her alleged role in the plot to kill her father and brother. No trial date has been set at this time. Teresa Ann Martin had prior knowledge of the murder plot and transported Grainger to the victims’ home and later picked him up a short distance from the burned car. Martin pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact on April 3, 2023, agreed to testify against Grainger and Rabon, and will be sentenced at the conclusion of Rabon’s trial.

Funeral services for Robert and Robbie Ford were held on August 25, 2018. Both men were interred at Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Conway, South Carolina.

Man receives back-to-back life sentences in murders of Horry Co. father and son

After 4 1/2 years the murder of a father and son has been solved.This afternoon Robert Grainger was convicted of killing them in a murder for hire plot.Prosecutor

wpde.com

''CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — On Thursday, Robert Grainger was convicted of killing father and son, Robert and Robbie Ford, in a murder-for-hire plot in August 2018.

Prosecutors said that Samatha Raben hired him so she could collect insurance money from her father and half-brother, and promised Grainger $20,000 to do it.

He then tried to steal their car and burn it, which is where prosecutors said he got sloppy.''
This is where the defendant made one of his few mistakes. Because after he set that fire, he left the windows rolled up and shut the doors and that is the only thing that kept the fire from fully consuming the car, and along with it the skullcap that they have been around for many years reports,” said the prosecutor in her closing statement.

It was that DNA evidence found at the scene that ultimately convinced the jury he was guilty, and it took investigators years to build the case.''

 

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[Eli9]

Did the daughter get the insurance payout?
I'm glad the accused didn't realize he had shut off energy to the fire.
Senseless. JMO

 

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Samantha Ford Rabon found guilty and sentenced

Woman convicted of killing dad and half-brother for $1 million inheritance

Samantha Ford Rabon, of South Carolina, was sentenced to two life sentences plus 30 years for having her father and half-brother killed to claim $1 million inheritance.

lawandcrime.com

A 39-year-old woman in South Carolina will spend the rest of her days behind bars for killing her father and half-brother in a sordid plot to get her hands on an inheritance of over $1 million.

Fifteenth Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Culbertson this week ordered Samantha Ford Rabon to serve two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional 30 years, with all of the sentences to run consecutively, meaning one after the other, for the 2018 slayings of 59-year-old Robert Marion Ford, Jr. and his son, 25-year-old Robbie Stetson Ford, authorities announced.

Before being formally sentenced, a jury found Rabon guilty on two counts each of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder. Rabon was sentenced to life for each of the murder charges, 10 years for each of the solicitation charges, and five years for each of the conspiracy charges.