SC man gets 35 years for pistol-whipping murder

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (AP) — A North Augusta man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to the pistol-whipping murder of an elderly man who tried to talk him out of getting in trouble.

The Aiken Standard reports (http://bit.ly/AqcT6x ) that 38-year-old Michael Henderson was sentenced Friday.

Henderson was convicted of murdering 71-year-old Howard Goode, who hired the younger man to do odd jobs around the house.

Prosecutors say Henderson went to Goode’s house last April to get bullets after an argument with his cousin. Goode refused to hand over the ammunition, saying he knew Henderson would get himself in trouble.

That’s when Henderson beat Goode with a pistol so severely the grip came off the handle of the weapon.

Henderson said in court that he wishes he could change what happened.

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Information from: Aiken Standard, http://www.aikenstandard.com