More than four years after the body of an Orangeburg man was found floating in a pond, police believe they have brought his killers to justice.

 

The body of 39-year-old Timothy Ravenell was found in a pond off Kennerly Road in 2004.

 

On Friday afternoon, Anthony Lockhart, 44, of 213 Sugar Maple Road, St. Matthews, and Victor Keitt, 45, of 833 Bramble Lane, Orangeburg, were each arrested on a charge of murder. The two were taken into custody without incident.

 

“Orangeburg County investigators developed new information in this murder case, which enabled them to develop evidence that pointed at these two subjects,” Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said.

 

“I really can’t elaborate on the new information because it’s still under investigation.”

 

Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said, “We’ve been on this thing hot and heavy for some time. We’ve got statements pointing to these people. Other evidence helped us determine who these people were.”

 

With that new evidence in hand, authorities now believe what was once an Orangeburg County murder case is actually a Calhoun County homicide.

 

“We were contacted last week about a 2004 murder, the body having been found in a pond,” Summers said. “They were working on the case and had some new information that showed the murder itself had occurred in Calhoun County.”

 

Investigators remained tight-lipped about precisely what new evidence led police to Lockhart and Keitt.

 

The victim first came to the attention of law enforcement when a missing persons report was filed on May 11, 2004. Three days later, Ravenell’s body was found by several men fishing on a pond off Community Park Road about two miles from North Road.

 

When the men realized the floating object was the body of a naked man, they drove to a friend’s house to call law enforcement.

 

Investigators say that when Ravenell’s body was recovered, police found he had been weighted down with a concrete block. An autopsy revealed he had been shot and stabbed.

 

“We were notified by the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office that the worst part of the case occurred in our county,” Summers said. “They (Orangeburg County) had already done the legwork and had determined that it had occurred in this county. After he was killed, the body was then taken over there to their jurisdiction.”

 

Summers would not disclose the suspected location of the homicide other than to say it was “in central Calhoun County.”

 

Summers said Calhoun County will send a team of investigators to the suspected murder site to recover any remaining evidence. However, that effort was being held up by the potential visit of Hanna, a tropical storm that was expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday.

 

“We’re sending a team in there to check it out if the weather lets us,” Summers said. “There’s any number of things we could possibly find.”

 

Police believe the motive behind the homicide was robbery.

 

Calhoun County Investigator Riley Godwin has joined the Orangeburg County team already working on the ongoing investigation.

 

Lockhart was charged with murder in 1989, but was not convicted. He was released from prison in 2001 after serving nine years of a 20-year sentence for armed robbery.

 

The two men are expected to appear before Calhoun County Chief Magistrate Robert Lake early next week to be given their rights.

 

Authorities say they’re aware of the frustration a victim’s family can experience when a case becomes cold.

 

“I can understand,” Williams said. “But we don’t forget a case, even if it’s sat idle for five, 10 years.”

 

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

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