He ‘terrorized’ a 68-year-old-man and burned him alive. Now he wants a new trial
A man found guilty of a 2016 murder of a 68-year-old man says he wants another trial.
Mitchell Cheatham was one of three men charged in the murder of Charles Bryant “CB” Smith. The North Carolina man is serving a 30 year term in Lieber Correctional Institution for “terrorizing” Smith over a span of 11 days before burning him alive on April 29, 2014.
Cheatham filed a post-conviction relief request in Horry County this week. The appeal filing allows a defendant to introduce new evidence or raise additional issues from a trial. An email seeking comment was sent to Cheatam’s attorney.
Cheatham says he has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Bipolar disorder, both can affect behavior and mental health. He also claims co-defendant Tommy Benton took advantage of his mental illness and manipulated him. Benton was convicted in the killing of Smith and is serving life in prison.
“I quickly became terrified of him,” Cheatham wrote.
Smith was handcuffed, pistol-whipped, beat with a crowbar, doused in gasoline, set on fire and left to die inside his Aynor home in the early hours of April 29, 2014.
Smith was terrorized three times in the last 11 days of his life, Thomas Terrell, of the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said at the time of the conviction. Smith awoke to Benton and another man standing over him, demanding money at gunpoint on April 18, 2014. The men robbed him of $27,000 they found in a grocery bag that morning.
Eight days later, the men broke into his store, CBS Furniture Company, looking to steal more money, but set it on fire when they grew tired of waiting for Smith to arrive, Terrell said.
Then, on April 29, 2014, prosecutors say, the men broke into Smith’s mobile home, near the store, disarmed Smith, tied him up, handcuffed him and demanded money. They hit him with fists, a crowbar and a gun, Terrell said, demanding to know where Smith’s money was kept.
Terrell, at the time, said the men lit the fire on their way out, leaving an injured, handcuffed and helpless Smith on the floor.
“He was completely consumed by the flames, and he was burned alive,” Terrell previously said.
Smith died in the blaze, not far from the front door, authorities said at the time.
