Jonathan Donnell Rhodes, the man convicted of murdering an elderly Eastside couple in their own home more than a decade ago, filed a post-conviction relief application challenging his conviction.
Rhodes' case has involved a direct appeal and a post-conviction relief application. Court dockets reviewed through the Greenville County Clerk of Court Public Index show Rhodes filed the post-conviction relief application on May 27, 2021.
Rhodes was convicted in December 2015 by a Greenville County jury on all counts tied to the October 2012 home-invasion slayings of 78-year-old Gary Wells and 77-year-old Helen Wells, an elderly married couple found deceased in their Eastside Greenville County home, according to the Post and Courier. Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III sentenced Rhodes on December 3, 2015, to three consecutive life sentences for two counts of murder and one count of first-degree burglary, plus five consecutive years on a weapons charge, the newspaper's report noted.
Evidence and the Motive Behind the Killings
During the 2015 trial, state prosecutors presented DNA evidence and cell phone location data placing Rhodes at the victims' Terramont Drive home on the night of the murders, according to a report from WYFF News 4. Prosecutors also established that the killings were connected to a credit card theft investigation involving the couple's former housekeeper, Shirley Rogers, who had stolen from the victims before the homicides occurred, per the same report. Rogers pleaded guilty in federal court in February 2013 to charges stemming from the unauthorized use of the couple's financial accounts, as reported by Patch.
The Greenville County Sheriff's Office arrested Rhodes in late October 2012. A neighbor's son-in-law discovered the bodies of Gary and Helen Wells. During the original trial, Rhodes was represented by attorney Jake Erwin, while Solicitor Betty C. Strom prosecuted the case for the state.
Years of Appeals Lead to Dismissal
Rhodes' direct appeal ran its course well before the latest ruling. Court dockets indicate the South Carolina Court of Appeals issued a remittitur affirming Rhodes' original murder conviction on March 17, 2021, after the South Carolina Supreme Court dismissed his petition for a writ of certiorari. That procedural closure cleared the way for Rhodes to pursue post-conviction relief, a separate legal track under South Carolina's Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act that functions as a civil collateral attack on a conviction once direct appeals have failed, according to guidance from the South Carolina Attorney General's Office. That statute requires applicants to demonstrate specific constitutional violations within one year of their direct appeal concluding, and the vast majority of such petitions allege ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
Rhodes also pursued a separate legal track while incarcerated, filing a federal civil rights lawsuit under Section 1983 against prison officials. That case was granted summary judgment against him and affirmed on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on December 9, 2024.
Rhodes has pursued a direct appeal, a state post-conviction relief application and a federal civil-rights lawsuit.
