Authorities in South Carolina have apprehended three individuals linked to a cold case and an alleged murder-for-hire plot that dates back over twenty years, as reported by the Independent. 

Kim Burgess, 56, Tonya Burgess, 49, and Mack Hanna, 60, face charges related to the 2004 murder of 19-year-old Lindsey Simmons.

The Lake City Police Department reports that Hanna and Simmons shared a child, and he purportedly paid Kim and Tonya Burgess to murder Simmons in a bid to secure full custody. 

Documents acquired by WMBF News indicate that the Burgesses entered Simmons’s apartment and

“caused her death,”

with the teenager discovered having sustained multiple stab wounds to her neck. This tragic event occurred just six days prior to her 20th birthday. According to the documents, Hanna was reportedly seen leaving the apartment just hours after the murder. 

The three individuals were arrested on December 18. Kim and Tonya Burgess both face charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and criminal conspiracy. Hanna is charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder. Additionally, Kim Burgess faces separate charges of homicide by child abuse and aiding and abetting, relating to the death of her newborn over 30 years ago in 1992. 

On December 19, all three were denied bond. They are currently being held at the Florence County Detention Center in Effingham, South Carolina. Their arrests were carried out with help from FBI special agents and the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

“All of these investigations are actively being worked and will continue to be worked until convictions have been secured,”

said Lake City Police Chief Patrick Miles.

#Clique, what are your thoughts?