Samantha Rabon, a 39-year-old woman from South Carolina, has been sentenced to spend the remainder of her life in prison for orchestrating the 2018 murders of two family members in a scheme to inherit money. On February 28, Jimmy Richardson, the South Carolina Solicitor for the 15th District, announced that Rabon received two life sentences, along with an additional 30 years, for her involvement in the murder-for-hire plot targeting her father, 59-year-old Robert Ford, and her half-brother, 25-year-old Robbie Ford.
Rabon was convicted by a jury on two counts each of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder. The judge handed down life imprisonment for both murder charges, 10 years for each solicitation count, and five years for the conspiracy conviction.
The tragic events unfolded on August 18, 2018, when Horry County Police responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle—a Ford Escape found partially burned in a field off Cookes Circle. Subsequently, officers discovered the bodies of Robert Ford and Robbie Ford in the yard of the registered owner’s home. Autopsies revealed that Robert Ford had been shot twice in the head at close range, while Robbie Ford sustained gunshot wounds to his side and the back of his head. Investigators determined the killings occurred on August 17, 2018.
According to WMBF-TV, The investigation spanned two years before authorities identified Rabon as a suspect, using genetic genealogy. DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts and a skull cap near the Ford Escape led investigators to Randy Grainger and Teresa Martin, Rabon’s cousin. Martin confessed to investigators that Rabon had approached Grainger with a proposition to kill her father and half-brother in exchange for $20,000.
Both Grainger and Martin testified in Rabon’s trial, confirming her involvement in the plot. It was revealed during the trial that Rabon inherited over $1 million following her father’s death, although the defense argued that Rabon’s mother was the mastermind behind the scheme.
Martin, initially arrested on two counts of criminal conspiracy, pleaded guilty in April 2023 to accessory after the fact to murder. Grainger was convicted on April 6, 2023, of various charges, including murder, criminal conspiracy, arson, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, receiving two consecutive life sentences.
Senior assistant solicitor Mary-Ellen Walter expressed profound dismay, stating, “In my 30 years of prosecution, these are the most heinous murders I have ever seen. The idea that someone would have their family killed out of pure greed is untenable.”
