On February 19, 2007, a Chesterfield County jury found Steven Vernon Bixby (born August 17, 1967)[1] guilty on 17 counts, including both murders as well as several lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy.
On February 21, 2007, this same jury recommended that Steven Bixby receive two death sentences for the murders and 125 years in prison for the lesser charges.
On April 25, 2011, the United States Supreme Court denied Bixby's petition for a writ of certiorari, effectively ending his appeals process.
Steven Bixby is currently on South Carolina's death row at the Broad River Secure Facility in Richland County.
The court dismissed this suit, but an undeterred Rita Bixby attempted (unsuccessfully) to hold a sheriff's sale of the property in question.
The parcel of land surrounding the Bixby residence was subject to a 1960 easement granted by a previous owner, Haskell Johnson, to the state of South Carolina, allowing for the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to expand its right-of-way on the portion of the property adjoining Highway 72, should it desire to widen this highway in the future.
Reportedly, the state determined in late 2003 that it would need to enter its easement on a strip of the Bixbys' land approximately ten feet in length to construct the project.
Angered by what they claimed was an unconstitutional theft of their property by the SCDOT, the Bixbys sent numerous written appeals to various state officials, arguing that the easement in question had been obtained illegally.
"[6] On Friday, December 5, 2003, officials with the SCDOT began staking out the portion of the Bixbys' land to be used for the highway project construction.
Arthur Bixby also attempted to sabotage survey work by removing stakes from the yard and throwing them into the middle of Highway 72.
According to testimony, following the gunshot, Wilson would have immediately lost all feeling below the wound and died shortly after that from trauma to the aorta and severe blood loss.
Probation Agent Phillip Sears and Agent-In-Charge Ed Strickland responded immediately to the scene, not knowing what had transpired on the property.
As first responders to the Bixby home, Strickland and Sears canvassed the property and quickly located the body of Constable Ouzts lying on the front lawn.
She phoned the South Carolina Attorney General's office, leaving the following message with a secretary: "...this is Rita Bixby, and I live at 4 Union Church Road...I've talked to you before, and they have; the state has decided they were going to come in and take our property.
Rita then effectively took the entire apartment complex and its surroundings hostage, threatening to randomly shoot bystanders if the police harmed either her husband or her son.
Throughout the late morning and into the afternoon, members of various law enforcement agencies and Abbeville residents who had befriended the Bixbys attempted to negotiate with the family, to no avail.
A SWAT unit came from Columbia by helicopter, followed by a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) armored vehicle.
A constant barrage of gunfire, up to a thousand rounds of ammunition in five minutes, emanated from the small house, thwarting attempts by police to rescue Officer Wilson or capture the residence.
Upon searching Steven's apartment and Rita's vehicle, authorities discovered numerous high-powered firearms and a large quantity of what was described as "anti-government" literature.
Around 7:15 PM, two hours after Rita's surrender, police breached the Bixbys' front door with a 10-foot steel battering ram attached to a vehicle, breaking a propane line and starting a fire, which several officers extinguished.
A surveillance robot, armed with tear gas and 5X intensity pepper spray, was dispatched to the house but was unable to enter due to the large quantity of debris blocking the front door.
The robot was, however, able to return video of Danny Boy Wilson's handcuffed, lifeless body lying in a pool of blood.
Upon entering the house for the first time, officers found nine firearms, including Wilson's, and an extensive library of legal texts and articles related to militia uprisings.
On December 9, 2003, Steven and Rita Bixby were arraigned in Abbeville County on various charges related to the deaths of Wilson and Ouzts.
Prosecutors originally planned to seek the death penalty for all three Bixbys, but on August 23, 2006, Circuit Judge Alexander Macaulay ruled that the death penalty was not an option in Rita's case, a ruling that prosecutors appealed to have overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
On February 19, 2007, a Chesterfield County jury found Steven Bixby guilty on 17 counts, including both murders and several lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy.
On February 21, 2007, this same jury recommended that Steven Bixby receive two death sentences for the murders and 125 years in prison for the lesser charges.
Judge Alexander Macauley sentenced Rita Bixby to 5 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections for the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
Rita Bixby made no statement to the court, only asking her attorney to advise Judge Macauley that she "is not guilty of these charges".