A woman and her family lured her estranged husband to their home by offering to let him see his children, then beat him in the head with a hammer and fatally shot him as he tried to run away — a scheme concocted because they were upset about a child custody dispute, according to police in South Carolina.
The wife’s brother, Jacob Hughes, 29, started the plan in motion by inviting John Michael Ferrell, 51, for drinks at a bar Saturday night, and then offered to bring the man back to the house to see his children for the first time in a while, police said in news conference late Wednesday.
But not long after Ferrell entered the home, he was attacked with a hammer, police said. He tried to climb out a 6-foot high kitchen window, but either his pants snagged on a nail or people inside pulled them down trying to prevent him from escaping, police said.
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Ferrell told officials that John Hughes told him taking his granddaughter would be the last thing he ever did. John Hughes told the court his son-in-law abused the children. A judge had issued a restraining order against the Hughes and Ferrell, according to WHNS-TV’s review of the records.
An Associated Press reporter attempted to view the records Thursday. However, in advance of a Friday emergency hearing in the case the records were sent to the office of Greenville County Family Court Judge Rochelle Contis.
A court official who refused to give her name said Contis left for the day during the lunch hour and the records were locked in her office and unavailable.
