On the night of October 29, 1988, South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper George Tillman Radford, a 41-year-old male, was on duty in Dillon County when he initiated a traffic stop for a defective headlight. This routine stop would tragically be his last. The following day, Trooper Radford's patrol car was discovered partially submerged in a pond, and inside was his body.
He had been shot and killed.
The investigation into the death of the 16-year veteran of the Highway Patrol led to a suspect, Warren Douglas Manning. Evidence suggested that after being stopped, Manning had left with Trooper Radford in the patrol car. A search of Manning's residence and the surrounding area uncovered Trooper Radford's service revolver. This discovery, along with other evidence gathered by law enforcement, pointed to Manning as the one responsible for the trooper's death.
What followed was a protracted and complex legal battle that spanned over a decade. Warren Douglas Manning was tried five separate times for the murder of Trooper Radford. The first trial resulted in a conviction and a death sentence, but this was later overturned by the state Supreme Court. A subsequent trial ended in a hung jury, unable to reach a unanimous verdict. A third trial once again found Manning guilty, but this conviction was also appealed and overturned. The fourth attempt to bring the case to a close also resulted in a hung jury. Finally, in 1999, after his fifth trial, a jury found Warren Douglas Manning not guilty, and he was acquitted of all charges in the death of Trooper George Tillman Radford.
