Former McColl mayor threatened to kill himself, wife before crashing into semi
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was investigating a small town mayor before he ended his life just hours after his wife reported he’d threatened to kill her and himself, according to an investigative report.
McColl Mayor George Garner II, 49, was being investigated after town Councilman Harry Benjamin told SLED Garner was stealing from the town and abusing his position. The investigation was cut short after Garner drove head-on into a semi-truck on Nov. 26, 2024, while being pursued by a Marlboro County sheriff’s deputy.
The crash occurred about 2:40 p.m. on S.C. 34 in Mechanicsville, according to the Marlboro County Coroner’s Office.
Two weeks prior to Garner’s death, Benjamin claimed Garner had authorized a town employee to sell scrap metal from an old building the town owned, and Garner and the employee would then split the proceeds.
Following the accusations, SLED interviewed multiple people from the town, including Benjamin, Garner, Garner’s wife, April, and Tameka McLain, the town’s clerk and treasurer.
The investigation revealed that Garner had conspired with a town employee to sell scrap metal from an old mill building that belonged to the town, according to the report.
The employee made $490 from the metal sales, the report said.
Garner claimed he did not authorize the employee to sell scrap metal from the building, but a text exchange between the employee and Garner, shared by Benjamin, suggested otherwise.
In a text message to Garner, the employee said, “You remember telling me (I) can get some scrap metal out of the old mill(?) (J)ust making sure it is still ok.”
Garner replied, “Yes. That’s between us. Harry (Benjamin) and them don’t need to know. Give me some $.”
Garner told agents he didn’t recall sending those messages and that he had only given the employee permission to clean the building.
On Nov. 25, 2024, one day prior to his death, Garner texted the investigating agent a photo of a receipt for $500 he paid to the Town of McColl and said, “I paid this to the town for scrap. I’m truly sorry for the decision I made.”
Besides the scrap metal deal, Benjamin claimed that Garner hired his wife to clean the town hall building weekly without the council’s approval, and that she was continually paid $100 a week even after she stopped work.
But McLain told agents that wasn’t true and that April was only paid for the time she worked.
Still, in the report, Benjamin maintained payments made to April where under contract, which first needed to be approved by the council, but wasn’t.
April Garner could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
In addition, Benjamin alleged that Garner was using a town credit card for personal use, and that approximately $800,000 in COVID relief funds paid to the town was unaccounted for.
McLain, again, denied those claims and said Garner did not have access to Town bank accounts.
