Cops: Mom killed sons for insurance money

Cops: Mom killed sons for insurance money
South Carolina woman charged with killing two sons, ex-husband Mark Hendricks and stepmother


msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 10/25/2011 8:13:06 PM ET


CHARLESTON, S.C. — A South Carolina mother who told police her son killed three family members and himself has been charged with quadruple murder because she wanted their life insurance money, police said on Tuesday.

Susan Diane Hendricks, 48, was charged with the murder of her two sons, Matthew, 23, and Marshall, 20, her ex-husband Mark Hendricks, 52, and her stepmother, Linda Burns, who was in her mid-60s, police said.

She was also charged with four counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Hendricks was arrested Monday night at the Quality Inn in Easley, South Carolina, The Pickens Sentinel reported.

Police were called to the house in Liberty, South Carolina early on Friday morning, Oct. 14, Pickens County Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan said.

Police reported seeing a "significant trail of blood" after entering the home in Liberty, the newspaper reported. Matthew Hendricks and and Linda Burns were found in the house.

Evelyn Burns, Hendricks' sister who originally called the police, then told police that she was worried about her family, who lived nearby. Authorities then discovered the bodies of Marshal and Mark Hendricks, The Pickens Sentinel reported.

'Horrendous act of evil'
Based on observation at the scene, forensic evidence and interviews with family members, they determined that Hendricks' version of what happened was false.

Family members told police that Hendricks' motive was life insurance money. Hendricks was the beneficiary of multiple life insurance policies taken out by the victims, according to a police report.

Police said Hendricks killed the victims with a handgun that she kept in her night stand.

Pickens County Sheriff David Stone called it "a horrendous act of evil."

There was no evidence that drugs were involved, Morgan said.

"I can't imagine a mom killing her two sons for money," he said.

In 2006, Hendricks shot Doyle "Brian" Teague dead, telling police he had entered her home uninvited and threatened someone. Police determined she had acted in self-defense.

Alan Smithee wrote:Evil bitch. Refreshing though that she's not being charged with having sex with minors.

Nystyle709 wrote:I've heard of wives killing their husbands for insurance, not mothers killing their kids for it. Damn. Wonder if shell get 200 yrs for it.