FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (AP) - A former high school principal in South Carolina who was accused of killing his wife was found dead nearly six months after getting out of jail on charges including murder.
James Stanton Yarborough, 65, was pronounced dead Thursday at his home in Folly Beach, news outlets reported. His cause of death was pending, Chief Deputy Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal said.
Yarborough called police last September to report his wife, Karen Simmons Yarborough, 63, was missing. He said he hadn’t seen her since the night before when she went on a walk.
While speaking with him, police spotted a red stain on Yarborough’s shirt and a bullet without a shell casing on the floor of the master bedroom, according to the police report. He said he was on blood thinners and the stain was probably his own blood, and he had no idea why the bullet would be there because he didn’t have a gun.
Vehicles outside the house with “fresh damage”, and broken pots and a wheelbarrow nearby “as if someone had attempted to clean up the scene,” were all cited in the police report. Yarborough said at the time he only knew of damage to the vehicles that his wife had told him about.
Karen Yarborough’s body was later found in a wooded area in unincorporated Dorchester County. James Yarborough was charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and obstruction of justice.
He was released from jail on bond in November and placed on house arrest, news outlets reported.
Yarborough had been the principal at Summerville High School from 1994 to 1998.
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