COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – Bond has been denied for three men charged with murder in the death of a 25-year-old Columbia man.
The murder investigation began after the discovery of human bones behind a Columbia apartment complex and came to an end
with the arrest of four suspects.
Richland County deputies have arrested and charged 21-year-old Jeremiah Jones, 20-year-old Allen Fulton, 25-year-old Victor Smith and 19-year-old Darius Smith with murder.
Jones, Fulton and Darius were denied bond in court Wednesday night.
On July 20, surveyors working behind the Northstone Apartment Complex found skeletal remains wrapped in a shower curtain and a laundry hamper.
“This was a horrific crime, it was a senseless murder over money,” said Monique Mack with the Richland County 
Sheriff’s Department.
An investigation revealed that the bones belonged to a 25-year-old man that had been reported missing on Oct. 6, 2008.
The man’s identity will not be revealed until DNA tests on the bones confirm his identity.
The sheriff’s department says the man was Victor Smith’s co-worker and Smith claimed he had stolen money from him.
Investigators say Victor enlisted the aid of the three other suspects to help him beat up the victim and get his money back. They say Victor and his group enacted the plan on Sept. 27, 2008, and brutally beat the victim. Officials say Victor ultimately ended the melee when he shot the victim with a handgun.
“
These four individuals decided to wrap him up in a shower curtain and a laundry bag and then put his body in a wooded area behind the apartment complex,” said Mack.
Deputies say the four men then shopped for cleaning supplies and paint and cleaned up the apartment, all before Smith’s roomate got home from her night shift.
via Bond denied for three charged in apartment murder case – WIS News 10 – Columbia, South Carolina |.