Story Archive

Aiding and Abetting Heinousness

When two men came into his Moncks Corner, S.C., house, James Edward Loftis, 39, says he feared for his life and shot the men in self defense. But the men were not robbers: Guma Oz Dubar, 46, was a taxi driver who objected to Loftis not paying the cab fare after giving him a ride home from a strip club; his friend James Cody Newland, 32, was just tagging along. Loftis agreed to get money to pay the fare, but instead came back from his kitchen with a gun and started shooting. Instead of calling the police, Loftis dug a hole in his back yard, threw in the bodies, set them on fire, and buried them. “They were essentially just slow-cooked inside the grave site,” Deputy Solicitor Bryan Alfaro said. Loftis’ wife called police when she returned home to find bullet holes in the wall and blood on the floor. Loftis has been charged with two counts of murder because, Alfaro says, “At one point, he indicated he had let them into the home.” His attorney, Stephen Harris, called Loftis’ actions “heinous,” but is pursuing the self-defense angle on his behalf. Circuit Judge Markley Dennis ruled that because of the defense plans, Loftis was unlikely to flee, and thus granted him bail. (RC/Charleston Post and Courier) ...If Loftis was black and his victims white, rather than the other way around, would he get bail?