2003 standoff in Abbeville, South Carolina
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34°09′22″N 82°23′24″W / 34.15604209477497°N 82.39006456802687°W The 2003 Abbeville right-of-way standoff was a 14-hour shootout that took place on December 8, 2003, in Abbeville, South Carolina, between alleged extremists and self-proclaimed "sovereign citizens" Arthur, Rita, and their son Steven Bixby; and members of the Abbeville city police department, the Abbeville County sheriff's office, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the South Carolina Department of Transportation , and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
The standoff resulted in the deaths of two law enforcement officers, after which Rita and Steven were found guilty of various charges. Arthur was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and died in a mental facility in 2011. Rita died of cancer in prison less than a week after her husband. Steven is on death row awaiting execution.
Overview
The standoff, which resulted from a dispute between the Bixbys and the state of South Carolina over surveying during the planning of a highway widening project, resulted in the deaths of two lawmen, Abbeville County Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Daniel "Danny Boy" Wilson, 37, and State Constable Donald "Donnie" Ouzts, 61. All three Bixbys were taken into police custody after surrendering late in the evening of December 8. On February 19, 2007, a
Events leading to the standoff
The Bixby family lived in
In New Hampshire, Steven Bixby was convicted of driving
In the early 2000s, the state of South Carolina began widening Highway 72 from the
On Friday, December 5, 2003, officials with the SCDOT began staking out the portion of the Bixbys' land to be used for the highway project construction. The Bixbys posted signs on their property prohibiting trespassing by "govermen [sic] agents and all others". At the trial of Rita Bixby, the prosecution presented evidence that, on December 5, 2003, there was a meeting between Rita, Steven, and Arthur Bixby and SCDOT officials Drew McCaffrey, Michael Hannah, and Dale Williams to address the Bixbys' concerns. At the trial of Rita Bixby, McCaffrey testified: "I offered to show them the plans detailing who owned the right of way, but Rita Bixby said the plans were all lies." Arthur Bixby also attempted to sabotage survey work by removing stakes from the yard and throwing them into the middle of Highway 72. It may have been about this time that the Bixbys began heavily fortifying their home in preparation for a standoff with police or the government.
The standoff
Early on December 8, 2003, a highway worker contacted police accusing Arthur and Steven Bixby of making threatening statements and again disrupting the laying out of
for the next fourteen hours, sometime during which he died from his wound. Wilson had been shot by a hunting rifle, which Steven Bixby had fired. The shot was fired by Steven Bixby from inside the Bixby home through a window and struck Danny Wilson underneath his armpit. After making vain attempts to contact Wilson, authorities sent State Constable Donnie Ouzts to investigate. Within minutes, Ouzts was fatally shot as well.At Steven Bixby's trial, testimony by
The bullet that struck Ouzts did so in the back near his spine and right shoulder blade, traveling across the body at an angle — from right to left — hitting his liver and passing through his heart. Death was nearly instantaneous. Wilson was hit just inside his protective vest, on his left side near his left armpit and left
At this point, the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Service office in Abbeville County received a phone call indicating that an officer had been shot. All probation agents in the state of South Carolina are fully certified law enforcement officers, with the same training and arrest powers as all other certified law enforcement officers. Probation Agent Phillip Sears and Agent-In-Charge Ed Strickland responded immediately to the scene, not knowing what had transpired on the property. As first responders to the Bixby home, Strickland and Sears canvassed the property and quickly located the body of Constable Ouzts lying on the front lawn. The agents summoned reinforcements and established a perimeter around the residence before other law enforcement officers arrived.
In the meantime, Rita Bixby, from the Abbeville Arms apartment rented by Steven, phoned the
Throughout the late morning and into the afternoon, members of various law enforcement agencies and Abbeville residents who had befriended the Bixbys attempted to negotiate with the family, to no avail. A SWAT unit came from Columbia by helicopter, followed by a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) armored vehicle. At one point, nearly 200 law enforcement agents surrounded the Bixby residence. A constant barrage of gunfire, up to a thousand rounds of ammunition in five minutes, emanated from the small house, thwarting attempts by police to rescue Officer Wilson or capture the residence. So heavy was the gunfire that the police had to be resupplied several times with ammunition. Media estimates have pegged the number of rounds fired in the tens of thousands. According to SLED Chief Robert Stewart, the level of gunfire from the Bixbys was worse than anything he had encountered in his 30-year career. Indeed, many Abbeville residents living over a mile from the standoff site reported hearing the continuous gunfire.
By late afternoon, SWAT officers could negotiate Rita Bixby's surrender, though she refused to assist in negotiations with Arthur and Steven. Upon searching Steven's apartment and Rita's vehicle, authorities discovered numerous high-powered firearms and a large quantity of what has been described as anti-government literature.
Around 7:15 PM, two hours after Rita's surrender, police breached the Bixbys' front door with a 10-foot steel battering ram attached to a vehicle, breaking a propane line and starting a fire, which several officers extinguished. A surveillance robot, armed with tear gas and 5X intensity pepper spray, was dispatched to the house but was unable to enter due to the large quantity of debris blocking the front door. The robot was, however, able to return video of Danny Boy Wilson's handcuffed, lifeless body lying in a pool of blood. In an attempt to recover Wilson's body, a SWAT unit stormed the house; surprised by the earlier blaze, the Bixbys were caught off-guard for a moment, as they ceased firing long enough for the officers to drag the body from the house.
By 10:00 PM, after hours of constant firing from both sides and releasing over twenty canisters of tear gas and pepper spray into the nearly destroyed Bixby home, Steven Bixby surrendered to police. About an hour later, a critically wounded Arthur Bixby also surrendered and was flown to a Greenville, SC hospital, where he recovered.
Upon entering the house for the first time, officers found nine firearms, including Wilson's, and an extensive library of legal texts and articles related to
The aftermath
On December 9, 2003, Steven and Rita Bixby were arraigned in Abbeville County on various charges related to the deaths of Wilson and Ouzts. Steven was charged with two counts of murder and one count of
Following arraignment, Steven Bixby likened the standoff to the events at
All three Bixbys were initially held in the Abbeville County jail, awaiting trial. For a brief period in 2005, Steven Bixby was moved to the Anderson County jail; in early 2006, he was moved again to the Lexington County jail, where he remained as of late August 2006, due to a breach of confidentiality regarding his meetings with expert witnesses in the case. Trial dates in the case were pushed back several times from their originally scheduled starts in mid-2004. One reason for the delays was the sudden death of Circuit Judge Marc Westbrook in a September 2005 traffic accident;[10] another reason was the contest between the defense and prosecution over both the venue of the trial and the county from which a jury pool would be selected. In early 2006, Macaulay agreed with Steven Bixby's defense that it would be nearly impossible to seat a truly impartial jury of Abbeville County citizens; in July 2006, Macaulay ruled that potential jurors would come from Chesterfield County.
Steven Bixby is currently on South Carolina's death row at the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville. On February 19, 2007, a Chesterfield County jury found Steven Bixby guilty on 17 counts, including both murders and several lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy. On February 21, 2007, this same jury recommended that Steven Bixby receive two death sentences for the murders and 125 years in prison for the lesser charges. Bixby was scheduled to be executed on April 22, 2007; however, the appeals process has not been exhausted. On August 16, 2010, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Steven Bixby and the death sentence (State v. Bixby, Opinion No. 26871, August 16, 2010).
While in jail, Steven Bixby wrote over 1,500 pages of letters to his girlfriend. Some of the letters, signed "chaotic patriot Steve", were admitted during his trial.[11]
Despite initial concerns over security at the 100-year-old Abbeville County Courthouse, Eighth Circuit Judicial Solicitor Jerry Peace determined on August 29, 2006, that the trial would be held in Abbeville County. The trial began on February 14, 2007, with a jury brought in from 160 miles away.[12]
On October 26, 2007, Rita Bixby was found guilty in Abbeville County
Because Arthur Bixby had developed dementia, he was not capable of standing trial. In July 2008, prosecutors dropped the murder charges and requested the probate court commit him indefinitely.[13]
On February 22, 2008, South Carolina state transportation officials agreed to name a stretch of state Highway 72 in Abbeville County for Abbeville County Deputy Sheriff Danny Wilson and Abbeville County Magistrate's Constable Donnie Ouzts.
On August 17, 2010, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Steven Bixby.[14]
In September 2011, the parents died of natural causes a week apart. On the 5th, Arthur died at the age of 82. On the 12th, Rita died of cancer at the Graham Correctional Institution. She was 79.[15] The house was demolished in 2018.[16] As of April 2022[update], Steven Bixby remained on death row because the drugs used for lethal injection were unavailable; however, it is expected with the planned signing of S.200, the state will resume executions with electrocution or firing squad.[16]
See also
References
- ^ "South Carolina Department of Corrections" (PDF). doc.sc.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2016.
- ^ Kinnard, Meg (July 23, 2008), "Prosecutors want to commit former N.H. man in cop deaths", fosters.com, AP, retrieved 2020-01-16
- ^ a b Adcox, Seanna (September 14, 2011), "Rita Bixby, guilty in killings of 2 officers after leaving N.H.", boston.com, AP, retrieved 2020-01-16
- ^ Suspect in Abbeville shooting wanted in New Hampshire, wistv.com, December 10, 2003, retrieved 2020-01-12
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Moser, Bob (Spring 2004), "Patriot' shootout in Abbeville, S.C.. raises questions about the town's extremist past", Intelligence Report, SPLC, retrieved 2020-01-12
- ISBN 978-1-4379-3061-0.
- ^ "Deadly Domains: Standoffs with Extremists". adl.org. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
- ^ Rita Bixby’s fate in jury’s hands [dead link]
- ^ Collins, Jeffrey (December 17, 2010). "Former N.H. man claims self defense in killing two cops". seacoastonline.com. AP. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
- ^ "Circuit judge killed in crash", goupstate.com, AP, September 15, 2005, retrieved 2020-02-04
- ^ "Letters Show Convicted Killer's Demons", The Oklahoman, AP, February 20, 2007, archived from the original on 2020-01-13, retrieved 2020-01-13
- ^ Nossiter, Adam (February 15, 2007), "An Outsider's Murder Trial Shakes a Southern Town", New York Times, retrieved 2020-01-14
- ^ "Murder charges dropped in S.C. cop deaths", NBCnews.com, AP, July 22, 2008, retrieved 2020-01-13
- ^ "SC High Court Upholds Bixby's Death Sentence 8-17-2010". Fox Carolina - WHNS 21. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
- ^ Adcox, Seanna (September 12, 2011), "Convicted mom of death row inmate dies in prison", The Post and Courier, AP, retrieved 2020-02-03
- ^ a b Edwards, Patricia M. (July 18, 2018), "Bixby house is no more", Index-Journal, retrieved 2020-01-09