A 60-year-old man from South Carolina was convicted on Feb 9, after only forty minutes of deliberation, for the murder of his former wife in 2019.
During the trial, a witness recounted a statement made by Anthony Argoe, the defendant, in which he expressed his anger at his ex-wife’s nagging by saying, “She would never shut up, so he shut her up for good.”
The incident was first reported to law enforcement on June 14, 2019, when Argoe’s then-wife, Lynda Shuler Argoe, was found dead in the Westbury Mews apartment they had shared.
Summerville Police Department, upon arriving at the scene, immediately noticed the victim’s motionless body propped against the couch, with a 19-inch butcher knife embedded in her neck.
An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed up to fourteen times in the arms, chest, stomach, and face.
In the weeks preceding the murder, evidence revealed that Argoe had quit his job, taken to drinking heavily, and stopped paying rent at the apartment. On the day before the planned move to her daughter’s house, Lynda Argoe had packed her belongings in her car.
Witnesses testified to loud arguments between the couple, and Lynda’s daughter stated in court that her mother had been a victim of abuse from Argoe for years.
An hour after Lynda’s daughter had last heard from her mother, Argoe was discovered passed out in a nearby driveway with a blood alcohol level of 156 mg/dL.
His clothing was found to be splattered with blood, and his jeans, shorts, and flip-flops tested positive for Lynda’s DNA.
The prosecutor stated that during the daughter’s emotional testimony, Argoe showed no remorse or sorrow. Judge Diane Goodstein sentenced him to life in prison.