Tucker Mackenzie Rector has been found guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The jury in the case returned the verdict just after 2 p.m. Friday. Rector shot and killed Edward Earl Davis in his Bolton home last year, then hid Davis’ body in a wooded lot near Buckhead.
Davis, 82, lived on Green Swamp Road North. In an interrogation video shown to jurors, Rector told Det. Paul Rockenbach at least five times that he shot Davis as Davis lay on the floor of his home. Rector also told the detective that Davis wanted to die. Later in the interview he said that Davis shot himself with a 20 gauge shotgun.
“I had my finger on the trigger,” Rector said.
After Davis was dead, Rector loaded his body into a truck and drove him to a remote area off Old Lake Road, where the body was partially hidden under a log.
“Why didn’t you call 911 when Mr. Davis fell down?” Rockenbach asked Rector.
“I don’t know,” a tearful Rector replied. “He wanted me to do it.”
Investigators testified that a family member went to Davis’ home on March 16, 2020, after Davis could not be contacted. When the relative saw a door was ajar, he called 911.
Deputies discovered a “large pool of blood” in the back yard of the home, and began searching for the missing man.
Rector was identified early on, according to testimony, and deputies made contact with him the day of the killing. rector actually approached deputies and told them he hoped he wouldn’t be considered a suspect, according to testimony. Rector provided some information to deputies, who executed a search warrant on his home, a short distance from the Davis residence.
At the home, they found a 20 gauge shotgun and a pill bottle. Both belonged to Davis. The shotgun was the one used in the killing.
The evidence then led deputies to the wooded area off Old Lake Road, where they found Davis’ body.
Rector said he was high on drugs at the time of the murder. He claimed in the interview that he was the “only one” who care about Davis, and that he often helped the elderly man. Defense testimony said that abuse as a child and his drug use contributed to Rector’s actions.
The case is the first murder trial held in Columbus County since the start of the pandemic, ironically just days before Rector shot Davis in his home.
We’ll have more on the sentencing on air and online.
