Alleged Hell's Angel Associate Testifies in Ard Murder Retrial

An alleged associate of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang testified Tuesday in the murder retrial of Joseph Lee Ard, who is accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend in 1993.

Lisa Bifield told the jury that she heard Ard tell his girlfriend, Madalyn Coffey, that he would kill her "the next time she (messed up)," according to a report in The State. She witnessed the conversation in April 1993 just before Coffey's death.

Ard is being retried for Coffey's death after the S.C. Supreme Court granted him a new trial in 2007. The court decided that Ard should get a new trial beacause his attorneys during the original trial failed to challenge a prosecution witness about gunshot residue evidence. 

Bifield is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center — along with other members of the Hell's Angels — awaiting trial on federal racketeering and drug charges, according to The State.

Coffey, who was 17 at the time of her death, was shot once in the head, according to court documents. In 1996, a jury found Ard guilty of two counts of murder — one for Coffey and one for their unborn child. He was sentenced to death.

The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty in Ard's second trial.