COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – The man believed to have killed two women in a Conway bank Monday afternoon was in Federal court Thursday.
A press release from the office of United States Attorney Beth Drake says that a hearing for Brandon Michael Council, 32, of Wilson, North Carolina, was scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. in the federal courthouse in Greenville, North Carolina.
Minutes from the proceedings note that a public defender was appointed for Council and his legal team waived his identity hearing. The purpose of an identity hearing is to determine whether the witness’s identification of the suspect as the perpetrator of the crime is correct.
According to the minutes, the court ordered that Council be taken back to South Carolina to stand trial.
“Brandon Council has been arrested without incident in Greenville, North Carolina by the Greenville North Carolina Police Department,” said 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson in a press conference Wednesday. “Immediately we began pursuing charges to include two counts of murder, one count of entering a bank with the intent to steal, grand larceny, armed robbery, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and felon in possession of a pistol.”
Council was captured in Greenville, North Carolina shortly after 12 p.m. Wednesday, confirms Greenville Police Department Public Information Officer Kristen Hunter.
Greenville officials say an anonymous person called in a tip around 12 p.m. Wednesday that they saw who they believed to be Brandon Council, the person of interest in a Conway bank robbery that resulted in the murder of two employees. The caller gave a description of Council’s car.
Greenville police located the car and conducted a traffic stop near the Baymont Inn, located at 3439 South Memorial Drive, in Greenville. Police say Council attempted to run but was apprehended a short time later.
Two other people in the car with Council were also taken into police custody for questioning, but have not been arrested. Their names have not been released.
The Greenville Police Department credits a community member for Council’s apprehension.
Conway police initially named Brandon Michael Council, 32, of Wilson, North Carolina as a person of interest in the CresCom bank robbery that resulted in the death of two employees Monday afternoon.
Lt. Selena Small with the Conway Police Department says officers responded to a bank alarm at CresCom around 1:16 p.m. Monday. When officers arrived, they located two employees inside the bank who had died from injuries sustained during the robbery, confirms Lt. Small.
Tuesday afternoon, Horry County Deputy Coroner Michelle McSpadden identified the victims as 59-year-old Donna Major from Conway and Kathryn “Katie” Skeen, 36, from Green Sea.
Council is also suspected in a bank robbery that occurred earlier this month in Wilson, North Carolina.
