Sidney and Tammy Moorer, the couple accused of kidnapping Heather Elvis, appear to face a new charge.
A grand jury indicted both Moorers for “conspiracy to kidnap” on Friday. The indictments don’t name Heather Elvis, but they do list the date she disappeared.
The charge basically means someone planned to commit a crime. In South Carolina, conspirary to commit a crime is a felony.
Defense Attorney Stuart Axelrod, who has no connection to the Moorer cases, questioned why prosecutors filed the new charge now. “If you had the conspiracy charge before, you know, why didn’t you do it?” Axelrod said on the phone Monday.
Solictor Jimmy Richardson cannot comment on the indictments due to a gag order.
“You would have either had to have new evidence, or somebody’s rolling on somebody,” Axelrod said. “Something happened for him to do this; he just can’t do this out of the blue,” Axelrod said, referring to Richardson.
We likely won’t know what’s behind the charge until there’s a court hearing or trial.
When asked what the prosecution is gonna need to prove the charge, Axelrod replied, “They might be doing this to squeeze her (Tammy) to try to rat out her husband. Because that’s the only way you’re gonna get a conspiracy conviction is if the co-conspirator comes forward.”
Both of the Moorer kidnapping cases remain open after more than four years. Tammy still has not gone to trial.
Sidney’s kidnapping case ended with a mistrial. His attorneys filed a document last week asking, among other things, whether prosecutors will try the case again. Sidney was sentenced to ten years in prison after a jury convicted him for lying to police about the investigation.
Greg McCollum, Tammy Moorer’s lawyer, also said on the phone he could not comment due to the gag order.
You can read the Moorer indictments and Sidney’s attorney’s filing asking for a hearing here.
