FORT MILL, S.C.,None — Jimmy Kendall III, was in court Monday to be sentenced for the death of 54-year-old Linda Hertzog.
Last year, 32-year-old Kendall and Hertzog were living together at Peachtree Place Apartments on Highway 160.
On Jan. 5, 2011 police checked the apartment because Hertzog had not been seen at work for several days. Her coworkers were concerned.
Police found her body on the floor. She had been severely beaten and choked to death. Her car was missing along with some checks.
She had been dead for three days.
Kendall was later found in Lancaster County driving Hertzog's car. It appeared he even went back to the Fort Mill apartment several times while Hertzog's body was still there.
He attempted to cash several of her checks that he had forged, police said.
Hertzog's older sister Barbara Helms said Kendall never showed any remorse.
"He drove her car and spent her money for three days," Helms said. "I was raised up with her. She was my sister. I took care of her. Now I'll never see her again."
On the night of the murder, police said both Hertzog and Kendall were drinking together and using crack cocaine. They started to argue, and there was a struggle.
Hertzog's son, Erich, said fights between them were not unusual. "I had to jump in a couple of times and break them apart," he said.
Other family members did not know Kendall well and thought the relationship, though rocky, was OK.
Another sister, Susan McCorkle, told the judge Kendall could have stopped himself. "He took her and he didn't have to do that. He could've walked away," she said.
Kendall took an Alford plea, which means he can plead guilty without admitting to specifics of the crime. He does admit that prosecutors would likely be able to prove he committed the crime in a trial.
In a negotiated plea deal, Kendall was sentenced to 30 years in prison with no chance for parole.
Outside the courtroom, Hertzog's sisters said they accepted the sentence, but wished it could be more severe.
"I think he should get death," Helms said. "He killed my sister."