Arrests made in cold case where veteran was beaten to death

Brenda Roberts and Arthur Bowers were arrested in Laurens, South Carolina for their involvement in a 12-year-old cold case.  An Army veteran was beaten to death in 2003 at the local VFW and no arrests were made.

According to WYFF NBC 4 News, new charges claim that Roberts assisted in destroying evidence after Bowers murdered 76-year-old James Bolt.  Bolt was robbed and beaten to death 12 years ago.

A good friend of Bolt, Bill Palmer, stated, “It’s devastating, I mean you lose a friend, it’s hard. It’s hard on me, it’s hard on the family, Jim’s family, and it’s hard on the VFW family.”

Palmer and two more of Bolt’s closest friends gathered together to commemorate the good times they shared with their deceased friend.

The three friends of the veteran had spent a lot of time handing out fliers offering a reward in the hopes that information would be discovered to solve the case of who had killed Bolt.

Wayne Kinard, one of these friends, said, “Last night when I heard the arrest, I went home and cried on my wife’s shoulder I was so happy.  He was a wonderful guy.”  Kinard is the head of the local VFW where Bolt was killed. He said that he felt he had to see this case solved during his tenure as leader of the VFW.

The three friends have 12 years’ worth of research and notes about the case that they keep in a binder that is nearly full.  However, they don’t think their work is done yet.

“There’s more people out there that’s involved in this thing, I’m sure, and we’re not going to stop until we get them all,” Palmer said.  Police in Laurens say more arrests could happen.