A South Carolina man with powerful cop friends shot a man in the back and killed him, then successfully claimed it was self defense until a secret recording emerged.  

Weldon Boyd shot and killed Scott Spivey, 33, on September 9, 2023, following a road rage incident in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Spivey had been drinking for several hours, before clambering behind the wheel of his Chevy Silverado while carrying his .45 caliber pistol. 

Just a few miles down the road, the handsome insurance adjuster is said to have swerved within inches of hitting another pickup, in which Boyd and his friend Bradley Williams were inside. 

The two men, like Spivey, were also armed. They claimed Spivey he waved his gun at them, before pulling ahead of them and slamming on his brakes. 

Boyd had to swerve to avoid colliding into the rear of the Silverado as Spivy did so, and ended up in a median ditch.

He got back on the road and gave chase with the trio eventually coming to a halt five miles down the road, after Spivey pulled over and told them to stop following him. 

By this point, Boyd had already dialed 911, saying: ‘Hey, I’ve got a guy pointing a gun at me driving. If he keeps this up, I’m going to shoot him.’

The two proceeded to open fire on Spivey and killed him, claiming he fired first in their standoff. 

His body was found slumped over the center console of his vehicle, with a coroner later ruling the shot that had killed Spivey was fired while he had his back to Boyd.

Scott Spivey, pictured here, was shot and killed on September 9, 2023, following a road rage incident in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Scott Spivey, pictured here, was shot and killed on September 9, 2023, following a road rage incident in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Weldon Boyd, seen here, was involved in his shooting and had originally escaped any punishment in Spivy's death

Weldon Boyd, seen here, was involved in his shooting and had originally escaped any punishment in Spivy’s death

But Boyd had been automatically recording all his phone calls amid a custody battle with his ex and seemingly forgot that he’d also recorded the call to the cop.

Those recordings did not emerge until Spivey’s sister Jennifer Foley began pulling records into her brother’s killing and appear to seriously-undermine Boyd’s stand-your-ground claims. 

Immediately after the shooting recorded phone calls reveal that Williams could be heard telling Boyd: ‘God damn it, Weldon. Why couldn’t we f****** leave him alone.’

Boyd then told his friend not to worry, and that he had people that could help them out. 

Soon after he called the head of criminal investigations at Horry County Police Department, Dept. Brandon Strickland.

Strickland told him: ‘I got the people coming that need to come’, telling him that he handpicked a detective for the case. 

Horry County Police Detective Alan Jones investigated and concluded the killing as a manner of self-defense.

The next day, Boyd again called Strickland telling him: ‘Thank you for what y’all did behind the scenes last night.’

Strickland said: ‘Alan’s a good dude, I wanted to send the right person down there’, adding that had Spivey been a black man it would have been more complicated. 

‘I’m glad it’s a white male, you would’ve really had people running their mouths then “white business owner shoots nlack male”.’, he added.

That same day, Boyd also told Williams: ‘I know it’s f***** up to say, but I had a f****** blast’, breaking into a giggle, before adding: ‘I had a good time.’

Williams replied: ‘You know, it is what it is.’

Boyd, left, and Williams, right, are seen here on the rear of Boyd's trailer following the shooting

Boyd, left, and Williams, right, are seen here on the rear of Boyd’s trailer following the shooting 

Spivy's Silverado is seen here on the scene, his body was left inside and hauled away to a lot

Spivy’s Silverado is seen here on the scene, his body was left inside and hauled away to a lot

Those phone calls have been uncovered as part of a trove of evidence in the case that Spivy’s sister Jennifer Foley and her attorney Mark Tinsley.

Boyd had been recorded all of his phone calls due to a breakup with his then pregnant ex-fiancée. 

He intended to use the calls as evidence against her in their custody for their then unborn son.

Foley and her family got the files after filing a wrongful-death claim against Boyd and Williams in June of last year. 

Immediately after her brother’s death, police never bothered to call Spivy’s family despite his license being in his pocket and his business cards inside his truck. 

Instead, his truck was sealed with his body still inside and towed to the department’s impound lot. 

Foley and her parents arrived on the scene and were told the news, but the truck and Spivy were already 20 miles away across the county, 

A crime-scene investigator took photos of his body before rolling him out of the vehicle and onto a body bag on the ground. 

He was stripped in order to photograph his injuries, and rigor mortis had already stiffened his body. 

Detective Jones watched on before ruling only a few hours later that Spivy had fired first and Williams and Boyd had acted in self defense. 

A police officer is seen here speaking with Weldon Boyd following the shooting

A police officer is seen here speaking with Weldon Boyd following the shooting

He then called the family of Spivy to inform his family of his findings, saying he had established the facts that Spivy had indeed fired first. 

Unimpressed, Foley set out to uncover the truth behind her brother’s death and flagged that cops hadn’t even bothered to look through his phone. 

She told the Wall Street Journal: ‘We feel like Scott was automatically labeled the criminal, and not necessarily the victim.

‘Scott should have been innocent until proven guilty also, and I don’t feel like Scott was given that right to begin with.’

Following a seven month investigation by local officers, the state attorney general’s office reviewed the file. 

In April of last year, the family were called to meet with assistant general Heather Weiss who said she would be closing the case and not filing charges against Boyd.

The office situated a lack of evidence in the case. 

Weiss said that Spivey had brandished his gun, and that under South Carolina’s stand-your-ground laws Boyd and Williams had the right to follow him.

Strickland, seen here, had to stand down from his position following a probe on him the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division over alleged misconduct in connection with the case

Strickland, seen here, had to stand down from his position following a probe on him the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division over alleged misconduct in connection with the case

Boyd furiously claimed he was being defamed by new coverage of Spivey's killing...and warned that lawsuits are imminent

Boyd furiously claimed he was being defamed by new coverage of Spivey’s killing…and warned that lawsuits are imminent 

Weiss said: ‘Scott made a decision to get out and come back with the gun to the vehicle, and he engaged.’ In the eyes of the law the two men had acted reasonably.

After filing the wrongful-death claim, Foley said the Horry County police department held off on handing over their full case file. 

Strickland was forced to resign from his job and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division now faces calls to reopen the investigation into Spivey’s death.  

His lawyers told the Wall Street Journal that the recorded conversations were all ‘braggadocio’ and that he hadn’t exerted any influence on the case. 

According to the outlet he had been unaware that he was recorded, his lawyer Bert von Herrmann said: ‘There’s a huge difference between public corruption and poor taste.’ 

Horry County leaders are now asking state officials to reopen the investigation into Spivey’s death. 

In a letter to Governor Henry McMaster dated April 17,  Councilman Johnny Gardner said he ‘felt there was an apparent conflict of interest with the shooter.’

In a post to his own Facebook on Wednesday, Boyd said: ‘The amount of flat out lies being told are outrageous, and the amount of facts purposely not being told is comically convenient to the shooter’s family. 

‘Defamation suits, conspiracy suits, libel suits and slander suits all to come. Numerous people are about to have to attorney up.’

The case is the biggest police corruption scandal to hit South Carolina since lawyer Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife Maggie and the couple’s 22 year-old son Paul at the family’s hunting lodge in 2021.

It subsequently emerged the Murdaugh family had been linked to three other horrific deaths, but gotten away with all of them.

Alex Murdaugh was heir to a legal dynasty which had held powerful prosecutorial positions in his native Coleton County for decades.

Locals said that for decades the Murdaughs had been too rich and powerful for justice, but Alex now rots in jail while the family’s surname and reputation lies in tatters.  

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