A Liberty-area woman has been charged with four counts of murder and weapons possession in the October 14 shooting deaths of her family. Susan Hendricks was charged with the murder of her two sons, stepmother and ex-husband. Authorities indicated that the probable motive was to benefit from the life insurance policies of the victims.

In South Carolina, as in all states, individuals convicted of committing crimes to obtain insurance payouts cannot benefit from their crimes. The precise amount of the insurance is unknown, but it has been called "significant" by the Thirteenth Solicitor Walt Wilkins. Rather than collecting the insurance benefit, Susan Hendricks may face the death penalty.

This is not the first time Susan Hendricks has been involved in a violent death. In 2006, she shot and killed an alleged intruder. Investigators at the time ruled that the shooting was an act of self-defense and Hendricks was not charged. After the recent incident, Hendricks accused one of her sons of committing the murders and then killing himself. Police indicated that the forensic evidence and the results of their investigation did not match her story. The gun that killed her family was the same gun used in the 2006 shooting.

Hendricks has not been charged with insurance fraud.

Source: Foxnews.com, "South Carolina Woman Killed Family to Collect Insurance Money, Police Say", Oct. 25, 2011.