SC man gets 35 years for killing, dismembering mom's boyfriend

GAFFNEY, S.C. — A man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing his mother's boyfriend and then working with her to cut up his body and leave it in several containers under a South Carolina home, prosecutors said.

Charles Bridges, 20, pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday just as his trial was set to begin, Solicitor Barry Barnette said in a statement.

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Bridges was worried Stone might be harming his mother when he came to her Cherokee County home in November 2017, Barnette said.

Bridges started fighting with Gary Stone moments after arriving and stabbed him to death, authorities said,

Bridges' mother, 45-year-old Dawn Wilkins, then helped her son dismember Stone's body and put it in several contains under her home, Barnette said.

The body of the 51-year-old man was found by deputies investigating his disappearance.

Wilkins pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, desecration of a body and conspiracy to kidnap before her son's trial was scheduled to start and is in jail awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

Associated Press