Suspect in Taylors Murder Appears In Court

The man accused of shooting a Taylors woman to death before setting her house on fire appeared in court in Greenville on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing, Fox Carolina reported. 

Billy Burch, 40, was arrested on March 1 by Greenville County Sheriff's Office investigators for the Feb. 21 murder of Alice Owenby.

Taylors firefighers were sent to 301 McConnell Road in response to a reported house fire there. Though firefighters initially thought the home was unoccupied, by 9 a.m., arson investigators with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office had arrived and discovered beneath several feet of rubble in the bathroom of the home.

During Wednesday's proceedings, it was revealed that deputies said Burch became a suspect in the case after he was seen knocking on doors in the Taylors area and behaving suspiciously after being kicked out of a bar on Wade Hampton Boulevard. There was also physical evidence revealed at the hearing, as Burch's boots reportedly had Owenby's blood on them.