Ohio man who strangled girlfriend to death in Myrtle Beach claims it wasn’t murder
An Ohio man who strangled his girlfriend to death in a Myrtle Beach hotel room is claiming that he shouldn’t have been charged with murder.
Blake Linkous pled guilty in March 2025 to murdering his ex-girlfriend, Natalie Martin, while on a trip to the coastal city in June 2023. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Linkous, who was 18 when the killing occurred, entered his guilty plea the day his trial was set to begin.
In a post-conviction relief petition filed Tuesday, Linkous claims he was not guilty of murder because it was not intentional or pre-meditated. He is asking the court to reduce his charge and sentence.
Under South Carolina law, murder involves a deliberate or malicious act that leads to someone’s death, while manslaughter involves killing someone usually in the heat of the moment or through reckless behavior.
“I was going to trial to fight murder for manslaughter but felt too guilty for the victim’s family,” Linkous wrote in the petition. “I felt too bad going about this case any longer putting the victim’s family through that. I’m guilty of the situation, not the charge.”
Linkous strangled Martin after the pair got into argument on June 6, 2023, because Martin was texting another guy, prosecuting attorneys said in court.
Linkous manually strangled Martin in a state “fueled by alcohol, jealousy and confusion,” Linkous’s lawyer Francis A. Humphries Jr. said at the time. Martin was declared dead on June 7.
The couple had traveled to Myrtle Beach with friends after graduating from high school.
Martin, of Roseville, Ohio, and Linkous, of Blue Rock, Ohio, had been a couple for several years until they broke up in February 2023, but the two had remained friends, Martin’s friend Brooklyn Ferrell said in a previous interview.
Ferrell claims that Martin was being abused by Linkous, which eventually led to their breakup. And although Ferrell hung out with Martin and Linkous often, she still wasn’t aware how serious the abuse was.
