A judge has ruled whether Crescom killer on death row should get a new trial
A judge rejected Brandon Council’s attempt for a new trial, leaving the convicted killer and bank robber on federal death row.
Brandon Council was convicted of killing Donna Major and Katie Skeen at the Conway Crescom bank branch where the women worked. In October, a jury sentenced Council to death after a three-week trial in Florence, South Carolina.
In the weeks that followed, Council’s attorneys asked a federal judge for a new trial. They argued the jury considered two contradictory aggravating factors — in that Council killed for easy money and that he killed innocent victims.
However, on Tuesday, Judge R. Bryan Harwell sided with the government. Prosecutors argued they were not contradictory because Council could have gotten the money without the level of violence he used, according to court records.
On Aug. 21, 2017, Council went into the 16th Avenue Crescom branch and approached Major at the teller counter. He waited about 45 seconds before pulling out a gun and shooting Major twice.
Skeen screamed in her nearby office, and Council ran to her, shot and killed her Skeen from point-blank range.
Council then ran back to Major, who was on the floor behind the counter and shot her in the head. He then robbed the bank.
Council stole Skeen’s car from the parking lot and fled to North Carolina, where he picked up a prostitute and stayed at a hotel. The next day, he asked a stranger to buy a car using money from the robbery.
On Aug. 23, 2017, police arrested Council outside of a Greenville, North Carolina, hotel. FBI investigators spoke to Council, who detailed his crime spree and his reasoning. When police searched Council’s car, they found many items from the robbery, including the gun, money from the bank and the clothes he wore.
As part of the orders filed on Tuesday, Harwell also excused Council’s attorneys from the case and appointed two new lawyers for his appeals process.
Council is housed on federal death row in Indiana. He is the first person sentenced to death since federal officials announced the resumption of executions.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 3:33 PM.
