NC man charged in double murder after woman, son found fatally shot near Fort Mill, SC
A North Carolina man has been extradited to South Carolina and is charged with double murders in the September shooting deaths of a woman and her son.
Paul Eugene Bumgardner, 45, of Gastonia, N.C., has been charged by York County Sheriff’s Office deputies with the murders of Betty Reynolds, 71, and her son, Barry Reynolds, 40, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald.
Bumgardner also faces charges of first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, arrest warrants and jail records show.
Bumgardner was arrested Oct. 6 in Gaston County, N.C., and has been in jail there. It took a month for Bumgardner to go through the extradition process required to move a suspect from North Carolina to South Carolina.
Court records in the case do not show if Bumgardner has a lawyer for the South Carolina charges.
Case is death penalty eligible
Murder and burglary carry up to life in prison for a conviction, under South Carolina law.
Also, under South Carolina law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty in cases where there are aggravating factors to a murder. Those factors include more than one victim, or a charge of burglary.
York County prosecutors at the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office have not said if they plan to pursue the death penalty.
Bodies found during deputies’ wellness check
Bumgardner knew the victims, but the relationship among the three has not been released, York County sheriff’s deputies said.
The arrest warrants say deputies have evidence that includes witness statements, which were enough to charge Bumgardner. Sheriff’s officials declined to say what evidence and witness information they have.
Betty Reynolds and her son were found dead Sept. 27 at their Saddle Ridge Road home when deputies went to the house to do a well-being check. The shooting deaths shocked neighbors in the neighborhood, located off Pleasant Road, between Fort Mill and Tega Cay. The area is near Interstate 77, between Rock Hill and Charlotte.
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This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 3:38 PM with the headline "NC man charged in double murder after woman, son found fatally shot near Fort Mill, SC."
