Judge denies new sentencing trial for convicted killer in deadly CresCom bank robbery

FLORENCE, S.C. (WMBF) – A judge issued a ruling on Tuesday saying that the man convicted of killing two CresCom bank employees should not get a new trial.

Brandon Council’s defense attorneys filed a motion back in November requesting a new sentencing trial or an acquittal of his death sentence.

A federal jury sentenced Council to death on Oct. 3 after he was found guilty of killing Donna Major and Katie Skeen during the 2017 CresCom bank robbery in Conway.

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Council’s defense argued that the government provided two contradictory aggravating factors during closing arguments that tainted the jury’s decision. The defense said the government made the argument that Council killed Skeen and Majors for monetary gain, but they said the government then argued that Council didn’t need to kill the two employees in order to complete the bank robbery.

But the court disagreed with the defense’s argument that the "two aggravators were inconsistent, contradictory, or in conflict with each other.

Council’s defense attorneys also argued that it was unconstitutional when the federal court said that the state of South Carolina can determine how Council will be executed.

The court ruled that Council’s constitutional rights were not violated.

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