After two days of pre-trial motions, two brothers pleaded guilty Wednesday in the death of a well-known Orangeburg man found bludgeoned to death in his home

Herman Joseph Daniels, 27, and Aveda Devol Daniels, 23, both of 644 Green St., Orangeburg, were originally charged with murder in connection with the February 2003 death of Bernard Boatwright, 57. That charge was reduced through a plea agreement on each to voluntary manslaughter.

"It's one thing to take somebody's life," Circuit Judge John Breeden told the brothers. "It's another thing to beat someone in the head, choke them and try to burn them."

Patricia Dunham, Boatwright's sister, located her brother's body inside his home. She asked Breeden to give the brothers the maximum sentence.

"I don't think I'd have the nerve to do that to nobody, like what I found him," Dunham said.

Calling the murder a "heinous killing that shouldn't have happened," Breeden agreed with Dunham, sentencing the men to 30 years in prison. The Daniels brothers also pleaded to one count each of attempting to burn property, which resulted in a five-year sentence for each man, to be served concurrently.

"Do I think you're sorry now? Yes, I do think you're sorry now," Breeden said. "But I don't think you were sorry then."

"Then" was Feb. 19, 2003, when Boatwright was reported missing. On that date, he was to drive his mother to a doctor's appointment. When he failed to show, family members became worried.

Part of the two-day legal wrangling this week centered around the brothers' videotaped confession concerning the incidents that resulted in Boatwright's death.

After the jury had been sent out, the court was shown the two separate confessions in their entirety, which, according to the brothers, revealed the murder stemmed from a sexual advance on Boatwright's part toward Avedo Daniels.

"I'm not gay; I'm not no punk," a sobbing Avedo Daniels said on the videotape. "He kept playing, and I hit him. He wasn't supposed to die."

Investigators found evidence at the scene that revealed someone tried to burn Boatwright's body as he lay on the floor in a bedroom at his home. He had been battered 18 times about the upper body with a hammer, suffered abrasions about his body and a laceration to his arm, 1st Circuit Solicitor Robby Robbins said.

In a day of pretrial motions, defense attorneys Crystal Chapman and Peggy Hines argued the Daniels brothers had been denied legal counsel after receiving faulty information from police.

Prior to their being charged in the case, the brothers requested legal assistance from Orangeburg County Chief Public Defender Michael Culler who, in a letter, advised the men to remain silent.

Investigators told the men they could heed that advice or talk with police of their own free will, Robbins said.

After much debate, Breeden agreed.

"The ruling of this court is that the statements were freely given," Breeden said. "It would appear to the court a complete intention to give up their rights."

Avedo Daniels confessed on tape that he placed a piece of paper by Boatwright's leg after pouring kerosene on the man's lifeless body.

"Did you light the paper?" Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office Det. Kenny Kinsey asked.

"Yes, sir," Avedo Daniels answered. "I was protecting my life. I'm not a punk. I'm not a punk."

It was the perceived sexual assault against his brother that caused Joseph Daniels to "flip out," he said in his own taped confession.

"I never meant to kill him; I never meant to kill him," Joseph Daniels said. "But he shouldn't have grabbed my brother's (anatomy) the way he did."

Those confessions were perhaps the turning point of the cases Wednesday.

"It was the heat of the moment," Chapman said. "It was a horrible experience for both of them. If they could take it back, they would."

Before Breeden's sentences, the men addressed the half a dozen members of Boatwright's family present in court.

"I'd like to apologize for what I done. I'm sorry for what I done," a tearful Avedo Daniels said. "I don't want y'all to be mad at me for all my life."

"I am sorry; I am sorry," Joseph Daniels said. "For my momma, I'm sorry. And the people of Orangeburg County, about the whole thing, I'm sorry."

"Kind, caring, compassionate, helpful" were words used by friends of Boatwright, a former church musician, to describe him.

"I'm just happy that we could get justice for the Boatwright family," Robbins said. "They indicated they were pleased with the verdict."

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5516.

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