Death penalty off the table for Roger Shephard

Staff Writer

rseaborn@pickenssentinel,com

EASLEY - The wife of a man shot and killed during a 2006 robbery of an Easley pawn shop finds only a bit of comfort in the pending return of his alleged killer from Canada, where he sought refuge shortly after the slaying.

"I am relieved," Betty Bruin said. "This won't bring back my husband, but I am relieved he is being sent back."

John Larry Bruin, 65, died from gunshot wounds in the June 15 robbery of Action Pawn Shop, the 604 West Main Street business owned and operated by the couple.

Roger Eugene Shephard, 23, formerly of Turkey Trot Road, Willimaston, fled to Canada shortly after law enforcement officials identified him from witness descriptions and video taken from the business.

Shephard, who has been in an Ottawa prison for the past 23 months after asking for refugee status, could be returned to Pickens County soon, a Easley Police Department Detective Gene Patterson said, adding that a date for his return has yet to be established.

"We've been making arrangements with the U.S. Marshall's Service to transport him back," Patterson said.

According to Easley Police Department Major Tim Tollison, Shephard was handed over to New York State Police last Tuesday, on fugitive of justice charges following an agreement with Canadian officials that the South Carolina would drop any intentions to seek the death penalty.

"The Canadian government would grant release of Roger Eugene Shephard only if we guaranteed that Shepherd would not face the death penalty," Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Bob Arial said. "I met with John Bruin's family and discussed the problem.

"They agreed with me that there was no reasonable alternative to having Shephard returned to Pickens County for prosecution," Arial said. "I have, therefore, reluctantly agreed not to seek the death penalty against Shephard to secure his return to Pickens County."

In New York, Shephard waived his right to fight extradition to Pickens County, Tollison said.

Police incident reports state that on June 15 law enforcement officials responded to calls stating that shots had been fired inside Action Pawn Shop.

Officers arriving at the scene discovered Bruin lying face down behind one of the counters and in a pool of blood. The victim's wife, Betty Bruin, was hiding in a safe in the rear of the store after the intruder fired two additional shots at her, the report said.

Upon viewing the store surveillance video, it "clearly showed the subject shoot the victim at point blank range and then hop over the counter and with a black bag which he produced...began to put what looked like handguns from the counter in the bag," the report said.

In addition, the video also showed the suspect point the weapon at Mrs. Bruin and fire two shots at her as she ran toward the back of the business, the report said.