SC man who pleaded guilty to killing parents called ‘merciful’

A South Carolina man pleaded guilty to killing his parents Thursday.

Stephen Belcher, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to multiple reports.

Henrietta Green Belcher and William Edward Belcher, both 69, were shot to death on Nov. 5, 2016, foxcarolina.com reported.

The voluntary manslaughter charges were the result of a plea deal, according to goupstate.com. Belcher, of Boiling Springs, had been charged with two counts of murder.

Belcher’s attorney, Doug Brannon, told a judge that Belcher killed his parents because they asked him to do it, goupstate.com reported. Henrietta had been sick and her condition deteriorated after a heart attack in 2010, suffering multiple strokes. William abused prescription medication and alcohol and lashed out at family members.

“What my client did was not legal, but what my client did was merciful,” Brannon said to goupstate.com.

Belcher was sentenced to 10 years in prison for each of the manslaughter charges and five years for possession of a firearm, but the sentences will be served concurrently, according to multiple reports.

Belcher’s parents were deceased for 10 days before his wife, Vonda Belcher, reported it to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, according to foxcarolina.com.

Both bodies had been covered with sheets, according to the incident report. Autopsies showed William had been shot three times, and Henrietta had been shot twice, goupstate.com reported.

“I could not count the times (William) asked me to shoot him and momma,” said David Belcher, Stephen’s brother. “I knew he was serious.”

Pam Turner, a longtime family friend of the Belchers, said during the final months of his life, William increasingly discussed suicide, asking Turner and others outside the family to kill him and Henrietta, goupstate.com reported.

“I would boldly say what Stephen did was merciful,” she said to goupstate.com.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 9:44 PM.