Burned Car Mystery Exposes a Church Leader’s Deadly Secret
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>> >> Initial background checks show that Robert Marion Ford was born on May 21st, 1959 in Conway, South Carolina.
Robert was a native of the area, lifelong resident.
He was very active in his church, very active in the choir.
He was married to a lady named Sheila.
Sheila and Robert had a daughter named Samantha.
Samantha was always the apple of his eye.
She had a great relationship with her dad.
She loved both her parents very much.
The relationship between Robert and Sheila was strained.
So, they had gotten a divorce.
>> >> They saw each other from time to time, but it was a very chilled relationship.
Once he and Samantha’s mother divorced, Robert quickly married Melda, who was Robbie’s mother.
>> >> So, Samantha and Robbie were half siblings.
It seemed as though the family was pretty close, pretty well adjusted.
Samantha grew up with her mother, but would certainly visit with her father on a regular basis.
Robbie was always the typical annoying kid brother.
Not that Samantha ever treated him like she was annoyed with him or anything.
She spent time with him, she loved him.
As Samantha and Robbie got older, Robert worked hard to support them.
He had been a very hard worker, studiously saving money so that he could provide for his children.
Robert also invested in his children’s spiritual growth.
He played leadership roles in the church.
He was a constant member of the choir and he went several times a week.
So, everyone in the community knew Robert and they all knew Samantha, they all knew Robbie.
But Robert’s devotion to the church was challenged when 21-year-old Samantha came to him with some difficult news.
She got pregnant out of wedlock.
He wasn’t happy about the situation, but he didn’t fault her.
But the church frowned upon it, even though she has been involved in the church her entire life.
Her father had to step down as deacon because she’s an unwed mother.
To Robert, the decision was simple.
>> >> When Samantha gave birth to her daughter, he was there for her despite the scandal it caused in the congregation.
He had a grandchild, so >> >> in in ways their relationship was strengthened.
He was an amazing grandfather.
He loved his kids.
He’s happy.
Within a few years, Samantha gave birth to twin boys.
But her relationship with the children’s father didn’t last.
However, when she met and married a man who worked at the nearby detention center, >> >> Samantha found the stability her children needed.
He had adopted her three biological children that she had from someone else.
Samantha maybe did some work here or there, but nothing steady.
She was always involved with her children.
She stayed at home a lot with the kids.
While Samantha settled into family life, Robbie was building a life of his own.
Robbie was also very highly thought of.
He had been in school at Clemson studying for an architecture degree and seemed at least on the path to a good career.
He had a good relationship with his niece and nephews.
Still had a really good relationship with Samantha.
They talked regularly.
>> >> But in 2016, the family faced heartbreak when Robert’s wife Melda suddenly died.
Over the next 2 years, Robbie and Samantha became his support system as he dealt with the grief.
It was just Robbie and Robert living at the home when Robbie was not in college.
There were quite a number of text messages.
They would spend time with each other, visit with each other.
So, at first blush, the family certainly seemed very close.
But on the evening of August 18th, 2018, both Robert and Robbie have been found shot to death outside their home.
Shortly after the discovery, Detective Peter Sistare arrives to begin an investigation.
We’ve got a young male.
He has what appears to be a gunshot wound in his upper right shoulder and a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
The second victim, that would be Robbie’s father, Robert Ford.
His gunshot wound is a contact wound under the chin.
They had some to-go cups with them.
Maybe some leftover food or something in a bag with them.
So, they are just peacefully coming in.
You begin to think, okay, Robert Ford had to have been shot first.
Because there is no indication of a struggle.
That tells me the suspect standing right there and waiting for them.
Robbie Ford is probably attempting to flee from the back of the house when he’s shot more than likely in the upper right shoulder first.
That puts him to the ground.
The second shot is then the suspect coming up behind him and shooting him in the back of the head at close range.
You could see that blood is coagulating.
It’s beginning to turn darker.
I’ve got to assume it’s probably anywhere from 6 to 2 to 12 hours earlier that this occurred.
Both of the wallets were gone.
One of the cars is in the driveway, and obviously the other vehicle that’s in the farming field belongs to this residence.
A robbery attempt seems possible.
But a search of the home quickly dismisses that theory.
The neighbors were probably about two football fields away.
This seemed to be a targeted attack in part because someone went specifically to that location in a very rural area.
That suggests that they had some knowledge of who lived there or what they might find there.
Both of these two individuals are quiet, law-abiding citizens.
The father is is a good church-going man.
And Robbie’s looking forward to going off to school in Charleston.
The fact that the father is shot up close and personal.
You can’t help but think this is a close friend or a relative that’s behind this murder.
The initial questions would be do they have any enemies? Who would want to do this? Who gains from their death? Coming up, detectives get a lead from something the killer left behind.
Cigarette butts are a perfect source of DNA.
And an insight into the killer’s mindset is revealed.
A mass shows that this was not spur of the moment.
This was planned out.
To South Carolina police, the murders of 59-year-old Robert Ford and his 25-year-old son, Robbie Ford, appear to be the result of a targeted attack.
But it seems the killer tried to make it look otherwise.
Their wallets were missing.
Robbie’s vehicle was missing.
But it looks like a homicide made to look like a robbery gone bad.
This crime appears to be committed solely on these two individuals.
That’s telling us that we need to be looking for somebody that may be closely connected to these victims.
News of something happening at the Ford home gets back to loved ones quickly.
Samantha did show up at the scene.
It’s my understanding that people had called to tell her there was a law enforcement presence at her father and brother’s house.
She approached law enforcement.
They told her your father and half brother have been killed.
” She seemed pretty shocked about the whole incident.
Kind of a normal reaction you would expect from from a daughter.
>> >> They began asking, “When’s the last time you heard from them? Do you know what they have been doing recently?” And Samantha told investigators that Robert and Robbie had been down in Charleston looking for an apartment for Robbie, who was going to be spending a semester of school down there.
She communicated with them the night before >> >> and knew that they would be arriving back on Saturday.
She described her relationship with her father as an excellent relationship.
They were very close.
She would go and clean his house, bring them meals.
Um she could not think of anyone who would want to harm either her father or her brother.
According to Samantha, the only trouble her father had in the recent past is a break-in.
>> >> The house had been burglarized back in 2017 and several items had been taken from the house at that time.
During that burglary, a .
38 revolver was stolen, some jewelry, and a laptop.
To investigators, it seems unlikely the burglars would return a year later and not steal anything.
They leave Samantha to grieve and make arrangements to follow up with her.
They canvassed the neighborhood and they went to one of the closest neighbors who was kind of across the field.
The night before, around 8:45, that neighbor was outside in his yard and heard a gunshot followed by a scream and another gunshot.
He didn’t report that to the police at the time because in that area of our county, hearing gunshots is not particularly unusual.
The timing corresponds to what Samantha told investigators.
Detective Sistere directs his attention to the soybean field where Robert’s car was abandoned.
This is significant because whoever brought that vehicle there decided that they were going to try and destroy evidence by setting the vehicle on fire.
I arrive on scene you’re looking for any type of evidence.
I find nothing until I get within about 5 to 10 ft of the vehicle.
And just outside the driver’s door of the vehicle on the ground there are three cigarette butts that are smoked down almost to the filter.
The minute I open the car I can smell a flammable liquid.
Gasoline or something of that nature.
I also see inside the vehicle and I think is significant is on the driver side floor there is like a wool ski cap.
When people set out to burn a car they don’t realize that the car has to have a lot of oxygen um to continue to burn.
The killer he didn’t roll any windows down or crack a window.
So the fire quickly smothered.
Detective Sistere collects the pieces of evidence and reseals the car to preserve the crime scene.
Cigarette butts are a perfect source of DNA.
Skin cells, saliva from your mouth is on the filters of those cigarettes.
So that’s going to definitely yield a significant profile for us on who our killer may be.
While the crime lab begins analysis of the DNA samples, investigators consider the other evidence left behind.
A match shows that this was not spur of the moment.
This was planned out.
With the investigation underway, the shocking news spreads across the small community.
Robert Ford’s family was horrified that he had been murdered and really wanted some justice.
Samantha was completely devastated.
She didn’t even know like up from down at that moment.
They told her they couldn’t rule her out at that point.
We just assumed that was typical protocol.
But when investigators contact Samantha to give a statement, she provides an airtight alibi.
There was a convenience store that showed Samantha on surveillance video during the time of the murders.
>> >> The investigators also got Samantha’s phone records.
There was no evidence that her phone was using a cell tower near her father’s home.
A few weeks later, the DNA samples collected from the burned vehicle provide detectives with a possible new lead.
The State Law Enforcement Division, SLED, determines that both the cigarette butts and the skull cap had the same single source DNA profile.
That’s like gold in an investigation because it’s one person.
I vividly remember there was celebration.
We don’t know everything, but we fully expected the killer to be in CODIS.
It’s been 30 days since the murders of Robert and Robbie Ford, and Horry County investigators have just gotten a huge break in the case.
The DNA profile is that of a white male.
We’re excited.
We’re thinking the minute they load that thing into the CODIS, we’re going to get a hit.
You know, this person’s got to be in there.
Unfortunately, CODIS did not come back with what we call a hit.
So, it didn’t lead anywhere at that point.
But, we now have that it is a white male.
Experts suggest detectives send the samples to a company specializing in ancestral DNA.
>> >> You can’t DNA everybody.
It’s a it’s a violation of people’s privacy.
But, we’ll pay ourselves to send our DNA into 23andMe and all these other companies.
Well, the one thing they don’t tell you when you send your DNA off through the mail is through forensic genealogy, law enforcement can have access to it.
That takes time.
It was a lot of hard investigative work that went into this, patience, and the longer it takes you the fear of memories, of evidence, of um things happening to people that they’re not going to be around later on.
As the months pass, Samantha Rabon moves on with her life.
I had gone to her home, which was formerly her father’s home.
Uh her and her husband and her kids moved into it.
Samantha Rabon acted pretty quickly in laying claim to Robert’s assets and to any money that was available to her.
And I think that certainly got investigators’ attention that she was behaving so quickly.
Police found out from Robert Ford’s sister that he had insurance policies and that Samantha Rabon was the beneficiary of those policies.
But Robbie was actually the primary beneficiary.
Robert had a lot of insurance.
And he had a lot of land.
So, if anything were to happen to Robert, Robbie would get that money.
I know that afterwards she was obtaining money from various insurance policies after her dad and brother had been murdered.
And she was renovating her home.
So, she was benefiting from her father and brother’s death for sure.
In August 2020, 2 years after the murders, the DNA lab contacts detectives.
They come back with a partial match.
Our suspect has two other brothers.
And that’s great information.
And they’re both incarcerated.
So, their DNA was collected in jail.
Problem is they they were in out of jail, so it’s definitely not them.
But from that, we then develop a potential suspect.
And that’s Randy Granger.
Turns out that he has a criminal history.
He had been in prison for I believe about 15 years.
Data obtained from the cell tower near the burned vehicle puts Randy in the area when the crime took place.
They discovered a phone number associated with Randy Granger as making a phone call to somebody else on this night.
And that phone number came back to a woman named Teresa Martin.
Randy Granger and Teresa Martin were dating, boyfriend and girlfriend.
Teresa Martin, once investigators start looking into her, is discovered to be a distant relative of Samantha Rabon’s mother.
She is a cousin.
Of course, it raises eyebrows that Randy Granger, whose DNA is at the soybean field, is calling the cousin >> >> of Samantha Rabon on the night that her father and her brother have been murdered.
Coming up, a co-conspirator makes a confession.
When he was done with the job, she gave him $20,000.
And exposes the puppet master.
He said that he was hired To do what? Kill her dad.
Nearly 2 years after Robert Ford and his son Robbie Ford were found murdered, South Carolina police interview two new suspects.
A relative of Samantha Rabon, Teresa Martin, and Teresa’s boyfriend, 50-year-old Randy Granger.
They’re brought in and and placed in separate rooms and and questioned.
We know he was involved.
So, even at that point, we’ve got to get a story >> >> as to why this happened.
Going into it, it’s like, “What is your connection with these two?” Randy is confronted with photos of the burned vehicle and items containing his DNA.
Mr. Trent, do you have any idea why you’re here? No.
What’s that? It’s a Ford Escape.
You’ve never seen You’ve never seen it before? >> No.
Okay, cigarette butt with DNA on it.
It was left in the South Core.
Randy wouldn’t say anything about anything.
I know you didn’t do this by yourself.
What I want is the person who asked you to do it.
Do what? You really want to play stupid.
I’m serious now.
Cuz I got you right now for at least two counts of murder, arson, I don’t need to lie to you, I guess.
Hitting a brick wall with Randy, detectives hope Teresa will give them more.
Just because you know something doesn’t mean you’re involved in it.
Doesn’t mean you can be in trouble for it.
But by lying to us, that’s where a problem comes.
Does that make sense? Yes, sir.
At first, Teresa sidesteps their questions about Randy, but she eventually admits he called her to pick him up on the day of the murders.
What did he say? Nothing.
He just got in the car and he said, “Let’s go home.
” As police continued to interview her, she engaged in what we call progressive truth-telling.
She kept giving them just a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more.
He said that he was hired to do a job.
And he said, “Who hired him?” He said, “Samantha.
” To do what? To kill her daddy.
Okay.
About a week before the murders, Teresa says she overheard Randy and Samantha discussing the plan.
She told him that she did not going to say she and Dalton do it.
Take care of my daddy and my brother.
When he was done with the job, she’d give him $20,000.
And she wanted it done before he left to go to college because she knew if just her daddy got killed, then she would have to split everything.
Robbie was actually the primary beneficiary, so wouldn’t have done Samantha much good to kill her father if her brother didn’t die at the same time.
Then she is the sole beneficiary of all assets.
Those assets include pension plans, life insurance, lots of acreage that her father’s home was on, including the home, all these assets up to almost a million dollars.
So how did how did he get to Robert’s house? Well, I took him and dropped him off.
He ain’t going to do anything.
He got the gun from Samantha.
He said he’s going to wait in the woods until they come home.
Do you remember what time? It it wasn’t dark yet.
There was a text message from Teresa Martin to Samantha Rabon, I’m home alone.
They confronted her with that.
At first she denied that it meant anything.
Eventually she said, yes, that was sort of our code that I had dropped Randy off.
” The interview gives detectives what they need to secure an arrest warrant for Samantha.
She is immediately arrested at her mother’s residence.
They actually timed Samantha’s arrest for the 2-year anniversary of the murders.
>> >> Samantha Rabon was initially charged with murder and criminal conspiracy.
News of the alleged murder plot stuns everyone in the community.
I heard all these rumors, but I took it with a grain of salt because it didn’t sound right to me.
This is not the young lady that I’ve grown to know.
I was in complete shock.
When they arrested her, I How could they possibly think that she had done this? Once Samantha’s arrested, she doesn’t talk.
She doesn’t claim to be involved in any way, shape, form, or fashion.
Why aren’t you asking questions? Just want you to know, we’ve already talked to Randy.
Randy’s in jail.
Okay.
Do you want to talk to us? No.
See, I told you my lawyer’s coming.
He’s like, “What happened to them?” Now, with a warrant, police obtain Samantha’s cell phone.
Investigators turn it over to a detective who specializes in electronic crimes.
I deal with anything that has digital evidence.
I got the cell phone.
I began using keyword searches and searching for insurance um began to search up murder and different different search criterias to go through the device.
Some of the more interesting web searches were how quickly you can clean up a double homicide.
>> >> Um how quickly can you get a passport? There were other searches, “Does God forgive murderers? Can you be a suspect in a murder and never get charged? There is a lot of real damning search history that really feeds in to the fact that she has played a significant role in the death of her father and her brother.
After 2 years of investigation, Samantha Rabon has been charged with plotting a murder-for-hire to get rid of her father and brother.
Once the case is handed over to prosecutors, they focus on getting Samantha’s co-conspirators to turn against her.
Teresa Martin had basically admitted some of her involvement.
And she quickly agreed to cooperate.
Randy Granger would not.
So, I determined that it was easier to try him first.
On April 3rd, 2023, Teresa pleads guilty to being an accessory.
Teresa Martin never goes to trial, takes a plea, and agrees to testify in both Randy and Samantha Rabon’s trials.
The same day she takes a plea, she provides witness testimony at Randy’s trial.
The police got what we call a buckle swab, a a known DNA standard from him.
That DNA standard is sent to SLED, and SLED is able to say, yes, that DNA standard matches the single source DNA profile from the cigarette butts in the ski cap at the scene.
Randy Granger is found guilty and sentenced to two life terms for the murder of Robert and Robbie Ford.
After his conviction of two counts of murder, arson, and other charges, >> >> Randy has a change of heart.
Randy at that point agreed to testify against Samantha Rabon.
According to Randy, Samantha’s relationships with her father and brother weren’t as rosy as police had been led to believe.
Samantha was the child of a previous marriage.
Whereas Robbie had grown up with both of his parents in the same home.
So, I think there was a little bit of tension there because Robbie may have been perceived as being >> >> the favorite child in the family dynamic.
There was talk about Samantha being unhappy about Robbie maybe getting a little more inheritance than she did.
Randy says Samantha approached him at her mother’s house with a plan to profit off their deaths.
Randy Granger said that Samantha Rabon gave him the gun that day on the courts.
She said that they both had to die at the same time and she offered him $20,000 to commit that murder.
About a week later, Randy and Teresa executed the plan.
Teresa Martin dropped Randy off at Robert and Robbie Ford’s home.
Randy Granger waited hours and hours and smoked cigarettes while he was waiting for them to come home.
He knew that they were going to be at dinner.
He just didn’t know exactly when they would get home.
Around 8:45 pm, he heard tires on the gravel driveway.
Robert got out of the passenger side of Robbie’s car first and was walking to go up the back steps to his home.
And he shot Robert Ford in the face.
Randy says he hears Robbie scream and he is running and so he shoots Robbie in the back.
And then he goes over and shoots Robbie in the back of the head.
He walks back over to Robert and shoots him under his chin.
And he takes their wallets and he takes the keys to the Ford Escape that was Robbie’s.
And he drives it to a field and he attempts to burn it.
Once the car was on fire, Randy called Teresa to pick him up.
But he’d made a few crucial mistakes.
He had smoked basically a pack of cigarettes and then he put the cigarettes in his socks to keep from leaving evidence there.
He didn’t realize that his socks had rolled down and the cigarettes he’d been stashing from Robert’s house had fallen outside the car onto the ground.
And he thought >> >> that the skull cap would have burned up but they didn’t.
The intent was to completely destroy the vehicle.
He just neglected to leave a window open to allow oxygen to get into it.
After the double homicide, Randy found out it was all for nothing.
He never received $20,000 from Samantha Raven.
Randy was upset at first, but you can’t call the police.
With Randy and Teresa’s help, prosecutors believe they have enough to convict Samantha.
But they know when it comes to juries, a guilty verdict is never certain.
I think the strongest thing that we had going for us was clear motive.
But anytime you were dependent on a testifying co-defendant, you always worry because it’s very easy cross-examination for the defense attorney.
Well, you’re doing this to get a better deal.
They have a built-in motive to fabricate.
So, there was a lot of pressure on us to get the right result.
On February 21st, 2024, Samantha Rabon stands trial for the murders of her family members, Robert and Robbie Ford.
It was a full 6 years after we discovered that a gruesome scene off Highway 19.
So, way past due.
For Samantha’s trial, the whole victim side of the courtroom was packed with family, with friends.
There were still some supporters for Samantha Rabon on her side, including her husband and some other family members.
Prosecutors rely heavily on Randy Granger’s testimony.
I will say I thought Randy’s testimony was extremely effective.
It had a ring of truth to it that you couldn’t deny.
>> >> They argue the burglary at the Ford home, during which the murder weapon was stolen, is evidence of premeditation.
It does seem that Samantha Rabon was certainly responsible for that burglary, which shows us that she had been thinking about having her father killed and her brother killed for at least a year before and was actually going to use her father’s own gun to do it.
Samantha finally reached a breaking point.
Her income was not meeting her outgo.
And I think she snapped because there was a solution and that solution to make her a millionaire was going to cost her her dad and her brother.
Samantha’s defense team attempts to undermine Randy’s credibility.
The defense of course is going to paint a cooperating state’s witness, a man that admits to pulling the trigger, as not to be trusted.
Randy Granger did tell us what he had done with the gun.
He said that he threw it into sort of a creek running along a road, but we were never able to find the gun.
Samantha Rabotte was adamant that she didn’t do it and just because she benefited, I’m sure she probably thought that doesn’t mean I’m a murderer.
On February 28th, 2024, after 2 hours, the jury reaches a decision.
When he said that she was guilty, inside I was screaming and crying and having a complete breakdown.
She was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole >> >> and was taken away that day.
I still don’t understand.
I’m just still so overwhelmed and lost in the feeling of there’s no true factual evidence that I can see.
100% justice was served.
She is the one that set this plan in motion, and she is where she belongs.
Although the gunman, Randy Granger, helped prosecutors convict Samantha, he doesn’t fare much better.
The state filed a motion asking a judge to allow him to be resentenced, but the judge only turned it from two consecutive life terms to two concurrent life terms, so not much of a break for him in the end.
I know there was a huge sense of relief for Robert’s family, and for that community where Robert lived.
He was extremely active in his church and had a lot of friends out there, and I think they were relieved to finally see some justice in this case.
Who would want to think that anyone in their family would have the ability to draft up a plan like this to have somebody executed simply over over money.
Samantha felt she needed it all.
Greed got the better end of her.
