Man who killed retired cop in Horry County sentenced for murder
A man who killed a retired cop and left his body in a wooded area outside Myrtle Beach for weeks will spend the rest of his life in prison.
An Horry County jury found Johnathan Hillary guilty of murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a weapon during a violent crime on Monday. A judge sentenced Hillary to life in prison, according to 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson.
The verdict followed a four-day trial.
Prosecutors said Tim Buckley moved to the Myrtle Beach area after he retired as a police officer from New York. In September 2016, Hillary and a co-defendant made plans to rob a victim for money. They met Buckley and shot him twice during the robbery.
Hillary then took Buckley’s remains in Buckley’s trucks to a wooded area off Highway 501. It took investigators six weeks to find Buckley’s body.
Hillary then drove Buckley’s truck to Myrtle Beach and left it before he and the co-defendant fled to Georgia.
This story was originally published June 17, 2019 at 6:44 PM.
