Cops follow 10 mile trail of blood and gore to Gregory Collins' trailer

[Dakota Valkyrie]

The killing of an African-American man whose body was dragged on a rope for more than 10 miles behind a truck on rural Newberry County roads is being investigated as a possible federal hate crime, SLED director Reggie Lloyd said Wednesday night.

The FBI was in Newberry County, located about 40 miles northwest of Columbia, looking for possible hate-crime-related evidence in the “bizarre” killing of Anthony Hill, 30, of Winnsboro, Lloyd said.

But Lloyd cautioned that state, local and federal officials have made no final determination in the case and are still gathering and processing evidence.

“We don’t yet have a definitive motive for all this,” Lloyd said.

After the Wednesday morning discovery on Hill’s battered body on U.S. 176 by a passing motorist, Newberry County deputies followed a 10-mile trail of blood and gore left on several roads leading to the rural home of Gregory Collins of Newberry County, Lloyd said.

Then, for three hours, Collins — a white man about 30 years old — refused to come out. A SLED SWAT team finally fired tear gas into the home, forcing Collins to surrender. He was arrested and charged with murder, Lloyd said.
[...]

Hill died from a single gunshot wound to the head and was apparently dead before his body was dragged and mangled, said Newberry County Coroner Craig Newton. The body apparently came to rest on U.S. 176 after the rope snapped, authorities said.

Lloyd said the victim and the suspect were co-workers at the Louis Rich chicken-processing plant in Newberry. The two, who both had girlfriends, had been spending a lot of time “just hanging out” with each other recently, Lloyd said. No drugs were believed to have been involved, and neither man has a serious criminal record, Lloyd said.

Lloyd said elements of the killing that raised the possibility of a hate crime included:

The victim’s body being dragged by a rope and left on a public road.

The suspect is white, and the victim, black.

Some “other issues” — evidence linked to Collins — that Lloyd did not want to divulge.

“We are being careful. We don’t want to attribute something to Collins that isn’t necessarily true,” Lloyd said. “But out of precaution, given the circumstances, we are investigating the racial angle.”

Lloyd did say authorities are trying to ascertain whether Collins has any ties to white-supremacist groups. He said in cases like this, authorities typically look into computer and phone records.
[...]

“On the one hand, you have this relationship between the two of them,” said Lloyd, “and on the other, these kinds of bizarre circumstances — dragging the body and that sort of stuff. And it’s way too early for us to say one way or the other what this is.”

http://www.thestate.com/2010/06/03/1...-possible.html

A motorist found Hill's body in the road on Highway 176 near Highway 773 just before 5 a.m. Wednesday. Deputies said it was apparent that the fatal injuries were much more severe than those typical in a crash.

Deputies and investigators said they followed a trail of evidence to a mobile home located on Orchard Park Drive in Newberry.

At the residence, the deputies said they saw evidence on a pickup truck parked in front of the home that linked the vehicle to the body.

http://www.wyff4.com/news/23772800/detail.html

[tothemoon]

Look at the smug look on that asshole's face. He has no remorse whatsoever! I don't care if the victim is black, white, purple.....whatever. NOBODY deserves to die that way. What a sad ending. :(

[claddaghgirl]

Just when I think humanity can't disappoint me anymore THIS asshole appears. Disgusting.

[ScribbleMuse]

I hovered over the title for a bit before opening because I hate to hear or know of dragging deaths. I was actually glad that this thing-that-should-have-been-left-as-a-cum-stain shot his victim first, but the desecration of the body via dragging is still sickening to me.

I understand why they're thinking of hate crime possibility, but I have to add the usual statement I make--I despise the hate crime classification. I agree that to commit any crime based on someone's difference--whether it be gender, sex preference, color, money, or favorite NFL team is heinous and it is something that we as an enlightened species should hate, but IMO hate crime classification is much like affirmative action. That simply created a wider gulf for the ones it was supposed to help and I think that any murder needs to be treated with the same standards in terms of disgust and punishment. Yet I do see why they're wondering at the resemblance to past circumstances.

I remember the one a while back that was a hate crime--I forget the poor victim's name but I think it was in Jasper, Tx? That was the first time I'd heard of a dragging death like this, and ever since, it's been one of those things that make me extremely sick to contemplate. Not that I like contemplating any kind of death--most certainly when it involves a victim and not something like an execution. However, this is one of those crimes that will always leave me feeling like I used to with all crime, much less cynical and more wide-eyed innocent about the depths of depravity that actually exists in the same reality I inhabit.

Regardless of the reasons for his actions, it winds up being the same thing: This cretin murdered a person. I don't really care if he killed him because he was black, or if it was because he thought the victim came on to his girlfriend (and isn't it kind of weird to specifically mention they both had girlfriends? Or was it just me that thought that was an odd side road?), or if it was because the guy had a watch or $10 that he wanted. It's a murder, and was followed up by horrifying desecration of his body. Some murders I can "understand," like if someone acts in rage or fear. However, the followup actions of this fuck just sealed his useless-to-society ticket for my own admittedly unimportant opinion.

[sodom]

It pisses me off how 10 black guys can rape a white girl and the media never mentions race.A fucking white boy does ANYTHING,they report his race."Let's hint around about racism and perpetuate the cycle.Get some ratings while we are at it."Fuck that.We are all a bunch of fucking niggers to the government.Everyone should get together,bring those bastards down.Then we can settle our differences the natural way.MIGHT MAKES RIGHT!

[backlash]

crazy crackers.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

The circumstances surrounding Gregory Collins' alleged murder of Albert Hill have many assuming this was a hate crime, but is it? Investigators and legal experts stress that Hill's death, as grisly as it may have been, should not yet be called a hate crime.

"It's certainly enough to get an investigation started, but proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is a different matter," said USC law professor Ken Gaines.

Gaines is not involved in this case, but says investigators will have to find that Hill was murdered because he was African-American. The FBI defines a hate crime as an act of violence motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.

"They're gonna have to find direct or circumstantial evidence that there was a racial motive, I think that's gonna be the hardest thing," said Gaines.

That's made more complicated by the fact that the Newberry County Sheriff says the accused was a coworker and friend of the man he's charged with killing. Collins' girlfriend said the two were good friends, and even went as far as to say they were like brothers.

But even if prosecutors can find that Collins had a racial bias, that alone isn't enough.

"Then you've also got to try that to this individual, to that what happened in this individual on that particular day somehow was an outgrowth of the racist attitude this person may have had," said Gaines.

If the investigation shows that there's enough evidence to prosecute this as a hate crime, Collins will essentially face two separate trials. He'll be tried for murder at the state level, and then tried again on the hate crime charge at the federal level. If convicted, both charges carry potential death sentences.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12598665

[brokenandtwisted]

This story was disappointing...I was expecting a trail of limbs leading to a cannibal's home.

But, I'll settle for a tale of racism...

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A man has pleaded guilty to killing a Fairfield County man and dragging his body behind his vehicle.

Gregory Collins pled to charges of voluntary manslaughter, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and desecration of human remains in the killing of 30-year-old Anthony Hill.

A judge sentenced Collins to 28 years on the voluntary manslaughter charge, 5 years concurrent on the weapons possession charge, and a 10-year sentence suspended to 5 years probation for the desecration charge.

Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace said Tuesday that Collins must serve 85 percent of the manslaughter sentence. Collins could also face 10 years in prison if he violates probation on the descration probation.

http://www.wltx.com/news/article/146...Dragging-Body-

Collins apologized to Hill's family and the community for the murder that sparked racial controversy in Newberry County.

The body of Hill, a black man, was found by officials after being killed and dragged behind Collins' truck down rural roads for several miles.

The New Black Panther Party demonstrated in hopes of authorities classifying the case as a hate crime.

Prosecutor Jerry Peace says the two men were friends and were drinking when Hill flaunted a gun. Authorities say Collins took the gun, shot Hill and used a rope to lift his body into his truck to dump it. Collins says he didn't notice when the body fell out and was being dragged over 11 miles.

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/...7#.TkGk_YKP9hl