A South Carolina man convicted of the brutal 2017 murders of two bank employees is seeking “compassionate release” days after President Biden commuted his death sentence to save his life. .
Brandon Council, 28, was convicted in September 2019 for the 2017 murders of bank employees Katie Skene, 36, and Donna Major, 59, of Conway. Council was sentenced to death in federal court a month later.
Council was one of 37 inmates on federal death row whose sentences were commuted to life in prison by Biden.
On Friday, the council filed a motion in federal district court in Florence, arguing that he deserved a “compassionate release” because he had suffered “severe, unnecessary and unwarranted emotional harm” and that “it cannot be accurately described as unjust treatment.” We can only interpret and assimilate it.'' “Acts of Torture”, as since November 4, 2019 he was permanently held in solitary confinement. According to records obtained by WBTW.
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Brandon Council is one of 37 federal death row inmates who were spared the death penalty following President Biden's decision to commute their sentences. (DeathPenaltyInfo.org)
Compassionate release is explained as follows: American Bar Association It is a process by which, due to extraordinary or unavoidable circumstances, incarcerated people seek community supervision or early release from the community.
Several people have publicly opposed Biden's decision to commute the death penalty, including Rep. Russell Frey (RS.C.), who called the decision “disgraceful.”
“Biden's move to pardon 37 federal death row inmates, including three men from South Carolina who committed unspeakable acts, continues to shock Americans across the country. This decision is shameful. It's time to bring America back to being a country of law and order,” Frye said. I wrote about it in the article on X.
In another post after the announcement, Frye added that Biden's decision “disgraces the memory of victims across the country.”
“Joe Biden's clemency for death row inmates shames the memory of victims across the country like Donna Major of Conway and Katie Skene of Greensea. January 20th can't come soon enough.'' Frye wrote. In his post about X.
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania) echoed Frey, calling Biden's actions “senseless.”
“President Biden's decision to commute the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates is not just nonsensical, it is an outrageous example of this administration's upside-down and backwards ideology,” Muser wrote in a post on his X account. I wrote.
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In an interview with “Fox & Friends,” Major's family said they were upset that Biden commuted the death sentence of her murderer just days before Christmas.
“I was angry, and I am still angry, that something like this is happening, without talking to the victims, considering what we have been through and what we are going to do.” I'm angry that one man could make this decision without being 'completely hurt, frustrated and angry,''' Major's daughter Heather Turner said in an interview on Christmas Eve.
Donna Major, 59, and Kathryn (Katie) Skene, 36, were murdered in cold blood by the Brandon Council during a bank robbery in South Carolina in 2017. (Derek Shoemake)
“She had no mercy at all. This man walked into the bank and didn't say a word to her. He shot her three times. He went to shoot her co-worker, Katie Skene. But she was completely defenseless and had no idea what was happening,” Major's husband, Danny Jenkins, added during the show.
“I can't believe this is actually happening…”
Council spent a week at a motel across from Crescom Bank in Conway, South Carolina, where he watched the movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” before bursting in with a gun and killing both Skene and Major. was murdered.
Council, who already had a prior felony conviction at the time, told FBI agents that he entered the bank knowing he would kill someone during the robbery.
He was on parole for one month at the time of the murder, which occurred during his second bank robbery since leaving prison.
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President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the war. Biden-Harris administration When he returns to office, federal executions will be suspended.
President Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social on Christmas Day to criticize Biden's decision to commute his sentence.
“They know their only chance of survival is to get a pardon from a man who has no idea what he's doing,” Trump's post said.
“Also to the 37 most heinous criminals who committed murder, rape, and looting like no one has ever seen, yet were incredibly pardoned by Sleepy Joe Biden. I'm not going to wish those lucky “souls” a Merry Christmas. But instead, you'll say, “Go to hell!” Trump continued.
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The U.S. government has executed 50 inmates since 1927, including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Cold War spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, according to the Bureau of Prisons. This is far fewer than each state that has executed more than 1,500 death row inmates over the past 50 years.
The government executed 13 federal prisoners during President Trump's first term, the most under any president in the past 100 years.
Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz, Taylor Penley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com.
