South Carolina farmers charged with murder in death of armed trespasser granted bond

A father and son who operate a family farm in rural South Carolina were granted bond a day after their hearing as they face murder charges in the shooting death of a neighbor they allegedly confronted in a trespassing incident last week.

Ryan Jordan Lindler Sr., 52, and Ryan Lindler Jr., 26, allegedly gunned down neighbor Kevin Lester Newhouse, 36, on Dec. 6, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office.

The last-minute bond hearing Thursday was to determine whether the farmers could bail out or would have to spend Christmas behind bars.

Court documents allege that the younger Lindler shot three to four rounds from a Glock pistol, striking Newhouse at least once in the head.

“Very happy for my clients the Lindlers. The court heard our arguments yesterday at the bond hearing and by written order granted a very reasonable and just bond with conditions regarding father and son remaining out while the murder charges are pending. Very grateful to the Court for listening to the arguments that we advanced and for all of the caring citizens, friends, and family that showed up for support for the Lindlers at Court yesterday,” an attorney for the father and son wrote on X.

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The younger Lindler told police Newhouse swung the machete at him and his father, striking each of them during the altercation, according to an incident report from the sheriff’s office.

But investigators allege that the older Lindler disarmed Newhouse before the shooting and told his son to open fire.

“Over the course of their investigation, which included interviews with both Lindlers and witnesses, detectives determined the elder Lindler told his son to shoot the victim,” Lexington Sheriff Jay Koon said in a statement.

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“The shooting happened after the elder Lindler had taken a machete away from the victim, who was unarmed when he was shot and lived near the Lindlers on Seleta Circle.”

It was the younger Lindler who placed the 911 call. According to the incident report, deputies found both the machete and the gun in his truck.

“They’re father and son who have zero criminal background,” Eric Bland, defense attorney for the elder Lindler, told Fox News Digital. “Both of them graduated from Gilbert High School. The son has had no, nothing ever in his background ever, other than a speeding ticket. Not even a detention at school.”

Now, they’re both facing murder charges.

Read the incident report (Mobile users go here)

Bland told Fox News Digital Wednesday that he expected the case to come down to “property rights, vandalism and a history of trespassing.”

“These cases will test the right of a property owner to protect their property from trespassers and vandals, including those who may bring deadly weapons onto the property of another,” he said.

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The Lindlers operate Lindler Farms, a state-certified, family-run range specializing in beef, hay and foraging.

The younger Lindler is engaged to be married in less than three weeks, and the trespassing incident that kicked off the confrontation took place at the house he is building with his fiancee, Bland said.