Overview
- Police added a murder charge, and authorities also announced a first-degree criminal sexual conduct count, in the death of 49-year-old Shirley Arnsdorff after investigators reported finding new evidence.
- The county coroner has classified Arnsdorff’s manner of death as homicide, and additional pathology studies are underway to determine the cause.
- Officers say they found three other adults in the home’s basement in July and allege the group had been confined for years, including one person reportedly held for about a decade.
- Warrants describe victims being denied food and medical care, having their phones and bathroom access controlled, and being cut off from outside contact, while their funds were allegedly used for dozens of personal purchases.
- Donnie Ray Birchfield Jr. remains jailed without bond on earlier counts including exploitation, false imprisonment, abuse and financial crimes, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting, and his lawyer says he maintains his innocence.