The unusual death of a woman is shocking South Carolina, after it emerged that she was apparently murdered by her husband, who for a period of time managed to deceive everyone - that she died in an accident.
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The HIX website tells the story of Judy Orr Baldwin, a 53-year-old widow who lost her husband in a motorcycle accident, and a few years later met James "Jamie" Baldwin as part of a motorcycle club of which they were both members.
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James was a former South Carolina police officer and a dispatcher at a local sheriff's station for a decade. The two married after eight months and moved in together next door to Judy's son, Chris.
The couple lived perfectly for five years. But then, in December 2016, Baldwin called 911 and reported that he and his wife had been in an accident - "I need help, my wife, she's bleeding.".
The dispatcher asked him if she was still in the car and he replied, "No, she flew out." He claims he even tried to perform CPR on her, but to no avail. Emergency crews found her with a 24-centimeter wound to her head and pronounced her dead.
Baldwin said that two accidents occurred that night: he claimed that earlier in the evening, Judy fell off a ladder while trying to hang decorations on the Christmas tree and hit her head.
The bleeding was heavy and he tried to take her to a nearby hospital, but on the way there a car swerved into their lane and forced him to swerve into a dam, causing her to be thrown from the vehicle, although the Jeep did not overturn. The police closed the investigation, claiming there was not enough evidence to prove it was anything other than an accident.
Why travel to a distant hospital?
But then the questions began to pile up: Why didn't Judy tell her son Chris, who lived next door, that she was going to the hospital? Why didn't Baldwin call 911 after finding his wife on the floor? Why did she even climb a ladder, since she hates ladders? Why didn't Baldwin drive to the nearest hospital, which was two minutes away, compared to the one he drove to, which was half an hour away?
Judy's family also claimed that blood was found in a relatively high spot in the living room of the house, and that the ladder may have been placed there after the incident. In addition, information taken from Baldwin's Jeep proved that he was in full control of the vehicle before the accident, and tire marks at the scene of the accident did not match the claim that the vehicle lost control at high speed. The coroner was also not convinced that Judy's head injury was consistent with an injury from a car accident.
The family began to believe that Baldwin had used his knowledge and connections in the police and prosecutors to cover up a terrible crime. The case was eventually reopened by South Carolina law enforcement, and the new theory being tested was that Baldwin had beaten Judy to death in their home and faked the accident using his police experience.
In his re-examination, Baldwin claimed that his wife had fallen and was bleeding, and that she was conscious on the way to the hospital and even told him that "she loved him." However, medical experts claimed that she could not have been able to speak.
In August 2018, Baldwin was arrested and convicted of murder, and in 2019 he went on trial. In November 2019, Baldwin, 60, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He, for his part, continues to insist that Judy simply fell off a ladder.
