Woman convicted of murder-for-hire plot to kill dad, half-brother so she could inherit $1 million

CONWAY, S.C. (TCD) — A 39-year-old woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for the 2018 deaths of two family members in a plot to inherit money.

Jimmy Richardson, the South Carolina Solicitor for the 15th District, announced Wednesday, Feb. 28, that a judge sentenced Samantha Rabon to two life sentences, as well as an additional 30 years in the murder-for-hire plot to fatally shoot her father, 59-year-old Robert Ford, and her half-brother, 25-year-old Robbie Ford. A jury convicted Rabon of two counts each of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder. She was given life in prison for both murder charges, 10 years for each count of solicitation, and five years for the conspiracy conviction.

According to the solicitor’s office, on Aug. 18, 2018, Horry County Police responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle and found a Ford Escape in a field off Cookes Circle that had been partially burned.

Officers subsequently went to the home of the registered owner, where they discovered Robert Ford and his son, Robbie Ford, dead in the yard with gunshot wounds. Robert Ford had been “shot twice in the head at close range,” while Robbie Ford sustained a gunshot to his side and in the back of his head.

Investigators determined the victims had been killed the day before, on Aug. 17, 2018.

Horry County Police reportedly spent two years investigating the case before they developed a suspect using genetic genealogy. According to the solicitor’s office, officials obtained DNA from cigarette butts and a skull cap in and around the Ford Escape that led investigators to Randy Grainger and Teresa Martin, Rabon’s cousin.

Martin reportedly told investigators Rabon wanted to meet Grainger in order to ask him to “kill her father and half-brother so that she could inherit all of her father’s money.”

According to WMBF-TV, Both Grainger and Martin testified in Rabon’s case and said the defendant offered to give Grainger $20,000 for the plot.

Following her father’s death, testimony revealed Rabon inherited more than $1 million, the solicitor’s office said. However, the defense argued Rabon’s mother arranged the plot, not the defendant.

Police initially arrested Martin on two counts of criminal conspiracy, and she pleaded guilty in April 2023 to accessory after the fact to murder. The solicitor’s office said she would be sentenced following her testimony in Rabon’s trial.

Grainger was convicted on April 6, 2023, of two counts of murder, two counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of arson, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. A judge sentenced him to two consecutive life terms.

Senior assistant solicitor Mary-Ellen Walter said, “In my 30 years of prosecution, these are the most heinous murders I have ever seen. The idea that someone would have their family killed out of pure greed is untenable.”

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