Former officer accused of wife's murder and cover up appears in court

CHESTER, S.C. — The details of a killing in Chester County sound like a scene from a movie.

Former police Officer James Baldwin appeared in court Thursday for the second time after being accused of staging a car accident in 2016 to cover up the beating death of his wife.

A judge denied Baldwin's request for bond.

Family and friends of Judy Orr Baldwin, who was 53, have waited nearly two years for the court hearing.

Thursday's hearing was their first chance to speak out in court and oppose bond for Baldwin.

"I believe (Baldwin) will do anything to anyone who gets in his way," Joshua Orr, the son of the victim, said in court.

(Judy Baldwin)

They have waited for justice that they hope begins now.

Judy Baldwin’s described Baldwin as a man who took from people and used people for financial and social gain.

"She was our rock, the glue that held us all together," Orr said.  "This was all stolen from her by a selfish, greedy, cold-hearted narcissist who had been controlling my mother for several years."

She died Dec. 14, 2016, off Old Richburg Road, east of Chester. A Chester County Sheriff's Office report said Baldwin called 911, and they found him on his knees near a bridge telling arriving deputies, "Save my wife."

They spotted the car down an embankment.  Judy Baldwin was found dead in a creek.

James Baldwin told deputies his wife had been injured when she fell off a ladder while hanging Christmas decorations at their home about one mile away on Oakwood Drive, according to prosecutors.  He said they got into a car accident on the way to the hospital, but investigators thought the scene didn't reflect that story.

A lengthy investigation began. It included the Highway Patrol, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Chester County Sheriff's Office. The grand jury pored over evidence in the case for nearly one hour. The grand jury returned with a true bill indicting James Baldwin, Deputy Solicitor Candice Lively said.

"She must have hit her head on the mantle, causing her to bleed excessively. He believed that she would need stitches, and therefore, he was going to take her to the hospital," Lively said.

The indictment obtained by Channel 9 states that Judy Baldwin died of "severe blunt force trauma to her head."

(Baldwin in court on Aug. 15, 2018)

Prosecutors were tight-lipped about the case, and lawyers initially asked family members not to talk about it.

James Baldwin's daughter told the court her father would never hurt anyone and would live with her in Rock Hill if released on bond.

Defense lawyers said Baldwin was not a flight risk and also suffered some serious health issues following an accident that left him with a brain injury months after his wife's death.

The judge ordered a mental competency hearing for Baldwin but denied his bond.

James Baldwin served as a patrol officer in the city of York in the early 1990s and later worked for the Columbia Police Department. He was then a dispatcher for Chester County.

He still has a first-degree arson case pending in York County, where he's charged with setting a trailer on fire, according to court records.

Baldwin said little in court just after his arrest in August and was denied bond. A grand jury indicted him for murder.

In South Carolina, a magistrate judge cannot set a bond in a murder case.

Judy Orr Baldwin's family released a statement following the arrest. Read it here.

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