Court records: Accused killer came from broken but financially stable Columbia family

Accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof came from a Columbia family that was well off financially but rocked by divorce, an unsettling move to Florida in Roof’s early teen years and alleged physical abuse, Richland County family court records say.

There is nothing in the records indicating how or why Roof began to steep himself in extremist white-supremacy doctrines that law enforcement authorities say led to Wednesday’s killings of nine African-Americans at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church.

Court records say that Franklin B. Roof, familiarly called “Benn,” and Paige Roof, Dylann Roof’s stepmother, were married Nov. 27, 1998, in Monroe City, Fla.

Benn Roof had two children from a previous marriage – Dylann, born in 1994, and Amber, born in 1988, according to an affidavit by Paige Roof, Benn’s second wife, now divorced from him. In 2000, Paige and Benn Roof had a daughter, who is now around 15.

Paige Roof wrote she was the primary caregiver for all three children in a February 2009 affidavit that is part of the couple’s divorce record in family court records.

“I raised his kids from a very young age, took them to all of their activities and Benn’s kids have spent almost every weekend with me,” she wrote in the affidavit. “Benn travels a great deal, usually four days a week, so I would always care for and raise his kids.”

Dylann Roof’s relationship with his biological mother at the time is unclear.

A friend of Paige’s wrote in a letter to the court that she was supportive of Dylann Roof after the couple’s 2009 separation. “She always made sure Dylann was able to visit his father, even taking him to and from his house almost every weekend. She has been very active in all of the children’s lives for the past 10 years caring for them as her own,” the friend wrote.

The divorce became final in 2011.

About the same time Dylann’s father and stepmother began the fights that eventually led to their 2011 divorce, Dylann dropped out of school, in the ninth grade. He briefly had attended Dreher High School in Columbia and White Knoll High School in Lexington County.

From 2000-05, the family lived in Columbia. Paige was a “stay-at-home mom,” cooking and cleaning and taking care of the three children, according to the affidavit.

“Benn’s business escalated so well financially, that we finally moved into our dream home on Park Street in Columbia,” the affidavit said.

Around 2005, Benn Roof moved the family to the Florida Keys, according to Paige Roof’s affidavit. “I absolutely did not want to go because (their then-5-year-old daughter) had made friends here and my family and friends were here,” the affidavit said.

After the family moved to Florida, the “marriage really began to deteriorate,” the affidavit said. In 2008, Paige Roof alleged physical abuse at the hands of Benn, and photos are part of the court record.

In the preceding years, Benn Roof had done well in his business, making $337,258 in 2005, at least $107,274 in 2006, at least $98,537 in 2007 and $168,066 in 2008, the affidavit said. Benn and Paige Roof also owned two houses in Columbia worth approximately $179,000, as well as two houses in the Florida Keys worth approximately $1.1 million, according to the affidavit.

In 2008, the couple moved back to Columbia. In December of that year, after Paige and their now 8-year-old daughter moved out of the Columbia house they shared with Benn Roof, she asked for custody, child support and to be allowed possession of one of the houses.

Little is known about Dylann Roof’s biological mother. A 2005 obituary for Amber and Dylann Roof’s grandmother shows that the siblings are the children of Amelia “Amy” Roof. A friend of Amelia Roof’s also confirmed that she is his mother.

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Court records: Accused killer came from broken but financially stable Columbia family."