Kenneth Wayne Carlisle and Jordan Marie Hodge were denied bond on counts of murder Monday after their own family members and those of the victims asked the court to keep them locked up.
Hodge and Carlisle are accused of killing 45-year-old William “Chet” Clemons and his 64-year-old wife, Linda McAllister, who was Hodge’s grandmother, before discarding their bodies near a boat landing in July.
Hodge’s mother, Dara Hodge, told the court, that her daughter “killed my mother and her new husband, dragged her out like trash.”
“She is a danger to herself. She’s a danger to our community and our family. She doesn’t have a place to go,” Dara Hodge said, asking the court to deny bond.
Jordan Hodge’s attorney, Martin Spratlin, told the court that, if released on bond, his client could stay with Carlisle’s parents. Carlisle is Jordan Hodge’s fiance.
“While this defendant may have been raised in Horry County, it appears that she no longer has any ties to anyone residing in this county,” Judge Steven John said as he denied Hodge’s bond. The denial was followed by an applause that was quickly hushed by the judge, who told them the matters before the court were serious and no outbursts would be tolerated.
Carlisle was out on bond and wearing a GPS monitor for charges still pending in North Carolina when police say the murders occurred. In North Carolina, Carlisle faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, intimidating a witness, assault resulting in bodily harm, injury to property, communicating threats and two counts each of violating a domestic violence protective order and assault on a female.
“What the court looks at for bond in any case is flight risk, danger to the community, is someone going to appear when they are called to court to answer for their charges. While this defendant is in a different circumstance as to flight risk in the court’s estimation, I do find that danger to the community is high based upon the fact that the defendant is alleged to have committed these crimes while out on bond for serious North Carolina charges,” John said, denying Carlisle’s request for bond.
“He was out on bond, he shouldn’t have been. He killed my mother,” Dara Hodge said after the hearing. “You tell me how the GPS monitoring system works when there are criminals, who have been let out on bond everyday, ... and they still commit murder. ... The law needs to change.”
Jerry Taynor, Clemons’ brother, told the court that McAllister “did nothing but try to help them ... and for them to do something like this ... is unspeakable.”
Taynor was flown in from Ohio to attend the bond hearing and told the court he’s had nightmares ever since his brother was killed. He appeared relieved that the two were denied bond.
Clemons and McAllister were reported missing from their Conway home after they were last seen on July 1. Fourteen days later, their remains were discovered near the Bucksville boat landing in an area where the couple once lived.
Police were “99.9 percent” positive that the remains found were those of Clemons and McAllister, Taynor said, but it took nearly 10 more days before tests could confirm it.
Carlisle, 28, and Jordan Hodge, 22, are each charged with two counts of murder and one count of financial card fraud.
A bloody truck, stolen bank cards used after the couple’s death and a final cellphone ping led police to arrest Hodge and Carlisle, according to arrest warrants.
A foul odor near the landing led police to the remains.
Taynor said McAllister and Clemons were inseparable and were married in October 2016. He came to see them in May when the two had sold McAllister’s house near the Bucksville landing and were in the process of moving to the Dewberry Drive home, where they were last seen.
Judge John said that the issue of their bonds could be raised again before an administrative judge, but not before nine months have passed.
Emily Weaver: 843-444-1722, @TSNEmily
This story was originally published December 11, 2017 12:14 PM.