commentary by Patrick H. Moore
At a hearing on Monday afternoon, Judge Steven John denied bond for Sidney and Tammy Moorer, who are accused of kidnapping and killing 20-year-old Heather Elvis, despite the fact that attorneys for the beleaguered couple asked the judge to decide on a reasonable bond based on the twin contentions that they are neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community.
The judge stated that he was denying bail based on the seriousness of the charges, the nature of this case (is this the same as the seriousness of the charges?), and the potential penalties the defendants face (life in prison?).
Heather Elvis’s car was found abandoned at Peachtree Landing along the Waccamaw River on December 19. Horry County Police (and most of the rest of the country) believe Elvis was murdered.
Although the entire country also knew, or should have known, that there was no way this peculiar couple was going to get bail, no one can say that their attorneys didn’t fight hard for them.
Tammy’s attorney Greg McCollum pointed out that his client has a clean criminal record and has full faith in the justice system. McCollum also noted Tammy’s longstanding residency in Horry County, her employment history in the area and her desire to raise and home school her children where she was raised.
All of these facts, McCollum argued, demonstrate that she is not a flight risk.
Although McCollum’s arguments could be described as conventional, Sidney’s attorney, Kirk Truslow, pulled out a few more stops, stating that the case was “extremely circumstantial at best”. He also argued, perhaps fallaciously, that “nothing point[ed] towards (a) tendency of violence” on Sidney’s behalf. (It is noted that Sidney is believed to have been arrested in 2011 for assault along with Tammy’s father, William Caison, in an incident involving a neighbor, Edward Miller, who claims he is still severely shaken.)
Having gotten these questionable claims out of the way, Attorney Truslow resorted to the tried and true. Sidney, who was born and raised in Summerville, moved to Horry County in 1997, prior to meeting and marrying Tammy. His maintenance business has a 13-year track record and has contracts with several chain restaurants.
Now here’s where it gets interesting: At the hearing, the prosecution made a Powerpoint presentation to the court outlining communications between the Moorers and Heather Elvis starting in early November and continuing right up until Dec. 18th when Heather vanished. Here are the alleged facts as presented by the prosecution which can be construed as suggesting that Sidney and Tammy Moorer may have lured Heather Elvis to her death:
The relationship proper (or should I say improper) between Sidney and Heather began in June of 2013 and ended in October.
When Tammy Moorer learned of the relationship, she contacted Heather Elvis multiple times, sending explicit photos and messages to Heather.
During the Powerpoint presentation, the prosecutor introduced extremely threatening messages from Tammy to Heather dated Nov. 1, 2013:
To Heather.. someone’s about to get their a– beat down.. your b— is about to take his last breath… You can tell me where you are right now or I will find out another way… that way wont have a great turn out for you… I am giving you one last chance to answer before we meet in person.. only one.
To Heather.. I’ve been having Sidney followed since Jan. 2012.. it’s best you call back and speak to me, save yourself. Hey …… you ready to meet the MRS?
As I stated in Sunday’s post, intimidation is the name of the game if you get entangled with folks such as these.
Poor Heather attempts to respond quietly and reasonably:
I think you are a little obsessed with me. I’m nobody you need to worry about anymore.
The prosecutor also presented its “extremely circumstantial evidence” in the form of a timeline of several phone calls and videos of the night/morning of Dec. 18 when Heather Elvis disappeared from Peachtree Boat Landing.
Here is the timeline:
1:35 am: Phone call from pay phone by Sidney to Heather. The call lasted 4:53 minutes.
1:44 am: Nine minutes later, Heather calls an unidentified person who was in Florida at that time. Heather tells her friend that Sidney just called and told her he is leaving Tammy. Heather was apparently upset because she had been trying to get her life back in order after her affair with Sidney and the subsequent harassment by Tammy. Heather is still at her home when she makes this call which lasts 2:20 minutes.
2:29 am: Heather attempts to call the pay phone Sidney called from several times but apparently no one answered.
OH SHIT! The hook has been baited and it’s stuck halfway down Heather’s throat. She seems unable to get over the fact Sidney is leaving Tammy. Otherwise, why would she keep phoning this hunk of burning love in the middle of the night? She’d already been out on a date that evening which apparently went well (she learned to drive a stick shift) and you’d think that she’d be tired.
But no, sadly, Heather is captivated by Mr. Construction and, fatally, appears unable to let go. This is proven by the fact that 48 minutes later at 3:16 am:
Heather calls Sidney’s phone but he doesn’t answer.
One minute later at 3:17 am Heather calls Sidney’s phone again and this time they connect for 4:15 heartfelt minutes. Heather is still at her home and Sidney is believed to be at his which is about 3 miles from Peachtree Landing. Heather hangs up, gets into her car and drives directly to Peachtree Boat Landing. If this were a movie, we’d all be saying, “Don’t do it! Don’t go! Don’t be a fool!
Although it’s almost beside the point, Sidney, after initially denying the phone call ever took place, admitted to police that he’d spoken with her but claimed it was just to tell her to quit calling and leave them alone.
3:38 am: Heather has arrived at the boat landing. She obsessively phones Sidney 4 times during the next 3 minutes.
Her phone data ends at 3:41 am.
Meanwhile, at 3:36 am, a private residence video surveillance shows a vehicle coming from the direction of Sidney’s house heading towards the boat landing. This camera is about halfway between Sidney’s residence and the boat landing.
Three minutes later, a business video surveillance a mile closer to the boat landing captures this same vehicle still proceeding in the direction of the boat landing.
If we viewers were upset when we first watched poor deluded Heather driving toward the landing, imagine how we feel after Sidney arrives in his vehicle and Tammy gets into it!
This is the moment when crime and horror merge and meld. How can this poor kid be so dumb? The power of Sidney has destroyed her, simple as that.
We can be reasonably certain that Heather got in the vehicle with Sidney because at 3:45 am, the same business video reveals the same vehicle traveling from the boat landing heading back towards the Moorer residence. The camera is approximately 1.2 miles from the landing which almost certainly means Sidney wasn’t at the landing for more than 60 to 120 seconds. It seems unlikely that he would have shot, stabbed or throttled Heather on the spot in that brief time period. More likely, he asked her to get in and away they went back toward the house where Tammy no doubt waited. (I am aware that the warrants state that Heather was killed at the boat landing but I doubt the accuracy of that theory.)
At 3:46 am, the private residence video surveillance captures the vehicle heading toward the Moorer residence.
This is why the police searched the Moorer residence so carefully, looking for evidence of Heather’s murder. We don’t know what they found.
* * * * *
Imagine how Terry Elvis is feeling, knowing that his beloved daughter was desperately eager to see Sidney, either that or she was so afraid that she didn’t dare not see Sidney. You pay your money and either way you lose.
Please click here to read our previous posts on the Moorer-Elvis saga:
Heather Elvis’s Father and Sister Receive Death Threats
Swingers Sidney and Tammy Moorer Charged with Murder in Death of Heather Elvis!
Myrtle Beach Couple Arrested in Heather Elvis Missing Persons Case