People are getting way too much leeway with this stand your ground law.
A Goose Creek resident panicked earlier this year after fatally shooting two intruders in his home, so he burned and buried their bodies in his backyard instead of calling police, his attorney said.
James Edward Loftis’ eagerness to make the self-defense argument in court helped sway a judge Monday to grant bail to the 39-year-old as he prepares for trial on a pair of murder charges.
He fatally shot taxi driver Guma Oz Dubar, 46, and James Cody Newland, 32, on March 5 at his house on South Pandora Drive.
Loftis was expected to post $250,000 bail and be freed sometime this week, said his attorney, Stephen Harris of Charleston.
His story seems a bit off to be honest.
Dubar, who operated the Global Mobile Taxi Service, gave Loftis a ride home early that morning from Stilettos Gentlemen’s Club, a strip joint in Charleston. Newland, a friend who often hung out with Dubar, tagged along.
In documents, the Goose Creek Police Department portrayed Loftis’ account of what happened next: Dubar and Newland forced their way into the home and demanded the cab fare. Loftis said he would get the money, but he emerged from the kitchen instead with a .45-caliber pistol and fired eight times.
Loftis told detectives that he had cleaned his home with bleach. He dug a hole in the backyard and put the bodies and his dirty clothes there. He burned the remains and covered them with dirt.
“They were essentially just slow-cooked inside the grave site,” Deputy Solicitor Bryan Alfaro said during the hearing.
Loftis changed his story a couple of times to better fit in with stand your ground law.