Bail Denied in Educator Shooting, Bike Rally Death
By Josh Hoke, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Jul. 26–Bail was denied Wednesday for a Myrtle Beach man charged with shooting his estranged wife and also for two men charged in connection with an Ocean Boulevard slaying during Atlantic Beach Bikefest.
Circuit Judge Steven John said Brad Senter, 54, was a threat to himself; his estranged wife, whom he is accused of shooting; and the community, and therefore denied bail for Senter.
Senter is charged with assault and battery with intent to kill and criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature in the Nov. 13 shooting of Dena Lester, an assistant principal at Forestbrook Middle School.
Senter’s attorney, Tommy Brittain, had asked that his client be released from jail and monitored through a global positioning system that Senter would pay for.
“I think those methods at the present time at best will only tell the court and everyone else where someone has been once they have already accomplished what they intended to do,” John said. “It will not prevent them.”
Lester asked that bond be denied and told the court she didn’t want to end up like Rebekah Grainger, whose estranged husband awaits trial in her March 2006 shooting death. At the time of her death, Winkler was on home detention on charges accusing him of kidnapping and raping her in October 2005.
“I think the right thing was done for me, the community and for Mr. Senter,” said Lester, who is in the process of divorcing her husband. “I truly feel for Rebekah Grainger’s family. I can’t imagine what they still go through.”
Senter must undergo a second psychiatric evaluation before he can be tried. Assistant Solicitor Brad Richardson, Brittain and John agreed to speed the case through the judicial system, which means a trial could be held by the end of this year.
Bail also was denied for two men charged in the fatal shooting of Aaron Hammonds, 22, in Myrtle Beach during Atlantic Beach Bikefest in May.
Brian Spears, 20, and Jeffrey Bethea, 26, both of Lumberton, N.C., will remain at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
The men pose a danger to the community and are a flight risk because they live in North Carolina, John said.
A third suspect, Nathaniel Douglas, 19, will appear before a circuit judge at a later date.
All three are charged with murder and three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill. Police said three bystanders were hit in the Ocean Boulevard shooting, one of whom had to be flown to the Medical University of South Carolina for medical treatment.
In a separate case, bail was set for two 21-year-old Conway men charged with murder in the March death of Efrain Rosado, 33.
John set bail at $70,000 for Jimmy Williams and Anthony Scott, Assistant Solicitor Larry Filiberto said. The incident occurred March 8 in western Horry County, and Rosado died four days later.
Contact JOSH HOKE at 626-0318 or jhoke@thesunnews.com.
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