CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — The Chester County Sheriff revealed disturbing new details Wednesday morning in the murder case of a woman who was found dead on the side of the road. Sheriff Max Dorsey told Channel 9 that the victim apparently was acting as a good Samaritan when she was killed.
On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office obtained murder warrants for George “Si” Linward Faile and Amber Nicole Harris for the killing of Linda Robinson on Monday. Harris was taken into custody on Tuesday and deputies caught up with Faile later that day in Lancaster County, where he was arrested.
Robinson’s body was discovered at about 11:45 a.m. on Monday along Carpenter Road off Highway 72 in the Lewis Turnout community.
About three hours later, police were called to the Chester Walmart to begin a missing persons investigation. They were told that Robinson, from Fairfield County, South Carolina, had been missing since before noon and was last seen inside the Walmart.
The police department and sheriff’s office got in touch with each other and determined that the woman found dead along Carpenter Road was Robinson.
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Authorities then began searching for the 63-year-old woman’s light blue 2009 Honda Odyssey, which was found around 8 p.m. off James F. Wherry Road, abandoned.
‘She just ended up picking up the wrong two’
Dorsey said Robinson, as a good Samaritan, stopped to help Faile and Harris, who were broken down on the side of the road in Fairfield County. They rode with her in her van to Walmart where she was getting a prescription filled, and waited for her in the van.
When they three of them left the store, the pair asked Robinson to drive to a road in northern Chester County, where they killed her in her van, Dorsey said.
Her husband said they beat her to death and then dumped her body on the roadside and left in her van.
“It’s my understanding that she’s done this so much, she has helped out so many people and she just ended up picking up the wrong two,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey said he believes both Faile and Harris were high on meth at the time. The sheriff said Faile is a known meth user who was out on bond for trafficking meth in early July.
Faile has been in and out of jail six times and Harris has been behind bars 36 times, according to the sheriff. Both were out of jail on bond on other charges, having been arrested only weeks ago on drug charges.
‘She’s the best person at heart you could ever find’
Linda Robinson’s husband of 44 years, Vernon Robinson, demanded that Walmart show him their videos from inside the store and the parking lot. He said that one camera showed activity around his wife’s van, but it wasn’t clear what was happening.
Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker said that the interior video shows Linda Robinson pushing a cart through the store.
“Please watch your own family, too,” Vernon Robinson said. “Because you see it every day, and you never believe it can happen to you. But it does.”
Vernon Robinson said that he gave his wife about $40 to pick up his medication at the Walmart. Linda Robinson still had the cash when her was found, authorities said.
The couple lived in Blackstock in Fairfield County.
“Everybody that knows her knows she’s the best person at heart you could ever find,” Vernon Robinson said.
Linda Robinson would often drive to the Walmart in Chester, which is the closest place they could get their prescriptions filled.
“My son says it’s the most horrible thing he’s ever been through in his life,” Vernon Robinson said. “My daughter too. I don’t know what to say. I have lost the words.”
The sheriff’s office is hoping to speak to any witnesses who may have seen Robinson or the van between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Homeowners and businesses are urged to review security video footage.
Anyone with information about this investigation should call the Chester County Sheriff’s Office at 803-581-5131 or 803-385-5433.
Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.
(WATCH BELOW: No arrests after man found shot to death outside Chester County club)
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