WMBF News reports that HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - A man previously federally convicted of murder returned to an Horry County courtroom Monday for state charges stemming from the same 2017 incident.
In 2019, a jury found Brandon Council guilty of killing Donna Major and Katie Skeen during a 2017 robbery at a Conway bank and sentenced him to death.
Council’s federal death sentence was later commuted to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole by then-President Joe Biden in 2024.
In September 2025, the state refiled charges against Council, including two counts of murder, and announced it would seek the death penalty upon conviction.
On June 29, Council’s defense team and solicitors from the 15th Judicial Circuit met during a scheduling hearing to determine when Council’s state trial will begin.
Solicitors proposed beginning the trial in April 2027.