LANCASTER, S.C. — A South Carolina judge says there is enough evidence to move forward with the case against a man accused of holding four people captive in his basement.
It all started back in July when police in Lancaster were called about an unresponsive woman. Her autopsy revealed her death was no accident.
Polic said the three others living in that Lancaster home’s basement had been deprived of food and medical care.
Channel 9 South Carolina Reporter Tina Terry has covered the case from the start and learned new details Wednesday from the courtroom. Investigators painted a dark picture of the conditions inside that basement, accusing the suspect of abusing those four people just before police found a murder victim.
“These are individuals that came there willingly thinking they’re getting one scenario and they got a completely different scenario,” prosecutors said in court.
Prosecutors say four people were trapped in Donnie Birchfield’s basement. They say Birchfield’s parents and sister lived upstairs and had no idea about the chaos going on downstairs.
“The idea that you have three grown adults living upstairs that do not know there are four adults in the basement due to white noise machines and the control and manipulation of the defendant has on these individuals shed a huge light on the probable cause that exists in this case your honor,” said Lancaster Detective Sgt. Jordan Brown on the stand.
Brown said the murder victim and her husband had a developmental disability. He testified they were forced to live in a tent in the basement, and they were sometimes tied down; they were also allegedly denied food and physically abused. He says the last time the murder victim was seen alive, the defendant was dragging her into a bathroom.
“They were in the bathroom for an extended period of time, when they came out her body was lifeless - he put her back in the chair,” Brown testified.
He says Birchfield called 911 and claimed the woman died of cancer, but detectives say she was covered in bruises, and autopsy results showed she’d been sexually abused and died from being strangled.
After investigating, Brown says police learned Birchfield was also holding two girlfriends captive in the basement.
The defense questioned the credibility of the witness in the case and claimed the DNA evidence doesn’t point to his client.
“We’re not interviewing eyewitnesses, we’re interviewing people that just want to come forward with drama with friendship drama or family drama that’s not probable cause,” Birchfield’s attorney said.
Birchfield’s attorney also pushed back against claims that the victims were held hostage.
“To only look at my client as a suspect in this case and allow this narrative he held these people hostage when they’re going all these places. There’s no signs of confinement in this place,” the attorney said.
In the end, the judge said that there is probable cause for the case to move forward. She said it’ll be up to a jury to decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent.
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