Family of slain Nesmith couple still seeking answers

By Patricia Burkett
WBTW Anchor/ Reporter
Published: August 18, 2008

The family of a slain Nesmith couple still is searching for answers some two years after the crime.

Williamsburg County deputies found 60-year-old Linda Bright-Poole Hilton and 64-year-old William Henry “Bubba” Hilton Jr., both of Nesmith, dead at their Lakewood Plantation home Aug. 2, 2006.

The body of Linda Hilton, who owned and operated a Pawleys Island store, was found in the yard of her residence, while her husband’s body was found inside the house, Williamsburg County Sheriff Kelvin Washington said.

The Hiltons had been shot multiple times and were probably killed the night before their bodies were discovered by a caretaker, Washington said during a previous interview.

The daughter and son of Bubba Hilton say hearing the news of the couple’s death sent a shockwave over the family.

“It’s just panic, it’s fear, it’s rage… I mean, you are so upset,” said daughter Kimberly Hilton-Reeves. “I couldn’t think. All I did was cry. I started throwing up. It’s a feeling like I don’t want anyone else to ever have to feel.”

“Words can’t describe it,” son Michael Hilton said. “I guess I was in shock ... it didn’t really set in I guess, until the day of the funeral.”

Linda Hilton’s son, 35-year-old Timothy Poole of Florence, originally was arrested in connection with the deaths of his mother and stepfather Nov. 22, 2006. But he was released Dec. 27 by William Driggers, a part-time Williamsburg County magistrate, who ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to send the case before a grand jury.

Poole, a former Florence County Sheriff’s deputy, had been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

This series of events was very troubling for Bubba Hilton’s children, who say they’ve had a hard time coming to grips with what happened.

“I wasn’t even notified (of Poole’s preliminary hearing),” Hilton-Reeves said.

“I happened to call to get an update and whoever I spoke with said, ‘You don’t know?’ and I said, ‘No,’” she said. “They said, ‘Well we had a preliminary hearing today and he’s being released within the hour,’ and I said, ‘Wow.’”

Bubba Hilton’s children say they question the authority of the magistrate judge in the case, and wonder why the case didn’t make it to a higher court.

No other suspects have been identified in the crime.Washington said investigators think greed was the motive.

The FBI is working on a potential case against Poole, and federal investigators are considering whether to prosecute the case as a murder-for-profit scheme.

The family of the murder victims say they are looking for justice in the case and an end to their two-year-long ordeal.

“Not being able to tell your loved one goodbye is not a good feeling,” Hilton-Reeves said. “Just to have closure in this case would be good. I mean, I don’t have words to say what it would feel like.”

— Morning News staff writers Charles Tomlinson and Jamie Rogers contributed to this report.