James R. Garner was sentenced to 25 years for beating his wife to death. But seven years after Kathy Garner’s death, her husband’s guilty plea has been nullified—and he is headed back to court.

In June 2003, Garner pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the Dec. 26, 2001 death of his wife, Kathy Garner. While James Garner entered a plea of guilty, he did not admit that he committed the crime.

Kathy Garner had been found beaten to death, under her vehicle, at Molly’s Rock State Park.

Within days of going to trial, James Garner felt there was enough evidence to convict him of the murder, the defense related at the time. If a jury had found him guilty, Garner could have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, or the death penalty.

But with the plea, James Garner was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison.

Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace says James Garner later filed post conviction relief action.

The request stemmed around an allegation that a person saw a vehicle at Molly’s Rock earlier that morning. James Garner contends that if he had known about the sighting, he would not have pleaded guilty.

The relief request was granted and the case has been returned to Peace for it to be retried.

“It is rare to have a guilty plea overturned. We will now prepare to retry the case,” said Peace, adding he hopes to have Garner back in court by the end of the summer.

“The court system chooses to give him a re-trial on a technicality...This is their choice [the court] and the victims and the government will deal with it,” Sheriff Lee Foster said.

Kathy Garner, a Prosperity resident, worked at the Whitmire Post Office and did not show up for work that Wednesday morning in December. Co-workers and family soon started looking for the normally punctual woman.

The search began with Kathy Garner’s family searching the main roads between Prosperity and Whitmire, and then ventured onto side roads.

Around noon, one of Kathy Garner’s brothers found the 42-year-old woman lying in a pool of blood underneath her vehicle, which was parked near the picnic area at Molly’s Rock.

Forensic reports determined that Kathy Garner died earlier that morning due to blows to her head from a blunt object.

Later, an autopsy revealed she had been stuck in the head at least 16 times. Newberry Pathologist Dr. Joel Sexton said at the time it was one of the worst beatings he had ever seen.

Investigators noted signs of a struggle between Kathy Garner and her attacker, but did not believe that Kathy Garner went to the picnic shelter off S.C. Highway 176 by force.

As the investigation continued, deputies allegedly received conflicting stories from James Garner. They then served a search warrant on her husband and reportedly found Kathy Garner’s blood in his car. Also found was a pry bar in the toolbox of his vehicle, allegedly with Kathy Garner’s blood and DNA on it. At the time, the pry bar was believed to be the murder weapon.

Since the post conviction relief was granted, James Garner has been transferred out of the state’s custody and is now being housed at the Newberry County Detention Center.

Garner can request a bond in the case, and if he makes bond he will be released from jail until the trial. The bond hearing can only be made in circuit court due to the severity of the crime.

Previous to his guilty plea, Garner had spent 18 months in jail and did not post bond.