Man who killed deputy freed on bail

Court upholds bail for convicted killer

A man convicted of killing an off-duty Beaufort County sheriff's deputy will remain free on bail while awaiting the outcome of his appeal, based on a decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday morning.

In a 3-2 decision, the high court rejected a request by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office to reconsider its decision to grant bail to Thomas Grover Rye. Rye, 60, was found guilty of murdering Robert T. "Robb" Odam during a dispute on Rye's Eastover property in August 2004. He was sentenced to

30 years in prison.

On Oct. 11, Rye was released from the South Carolina Department of Corrections in Columbia after posting a $50,000 bail granted by S.C. Supreme Court justices on Oct. 4. He had served 10 months.

After a paperwork error resulted in the bail request going unchallenged, the S.C. Attorney General's Office asked the high court to reconsider its decision.

Defense attorney Kenneth Mathews filed written arguments claiming that Rye should be granted bail because he has no prior criminal record, he acted in self-defense, he followed every court order while previously released on bail, and he would not be a flight risk. Rye has lived his whole life in Richland County.

In the request to have the bail ruling reconsidered, state prosecutor Donald Zelenka referenced two state Court of Appeals decisions denying Rye bail. He wrote that Rye is not entitled to bail by statute because he was sentenced to more than

10 years and the level of Rye's crime showed malicious premeditation.

"We are quite disappointed in (the Supreme Court's) position," Mark Plowden, spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster, said about the decision.

Plowden said the Attorney General's Office will file a motion to expedite the appeal process, which can be lengthy.

Rye asked to be released on bail while he appealed his December conviction. After the denials by the state Court of Appeals, he took his request to the Supreme Court.

A notice of that request was sent to the state Attorney General's Office, which intended to fight the bail request and appeal. But Plowden said the notice was attached to the wrong file, meaning justices did not have a challenge filed by the Attorney General's Office when they decided to grant Rye bail.

Whether Rye still would be in prison if the Attorney General's Office had challenged the bail request to justices is unknown.

"(Challenging the original request) is something we had the opportunity to do and should have done," Plowden said. "It's impossible to know except by the court, and (the court) doesn't discuss their decisions."

The high court's decision has soured Odam's family.

"This (situation) has just been too much too often," Nancy Odam, Robb Odam's mother, said Thursday. "Our family has suffered so much. It just won't go away.

"I'm hoping the Supreme Court will expedite (Rye's appeal)."

Robb Odam, who lived in Bluffton and was a 2000 graduate of Hilton Head High School, was shooting cats on Rye's Eastover property when he was killed on Aug. 14, 2004, court documents show.

Rye called 911 and told a dispatcher that someone had shot his cat and was trying to break into his shed. He called 911 again a short time later and said he had shot and killed a trespasser.

Deputies arrived shortly after

4 p.m. and discovered Odam, 22, had been shot four times with a semiautomatic rifle.

In a petition for appeal to the S.C. Supreme Court, Rye's attorney,

Kenneth Mathews, argued that Robb Odam shot at Rye and Rye fired back in self-defense. Rye also claimed defense of habitation, meaning he applied deadly force to prevent entry to his home.

But Zelenka, the prosecutor with the Attorney General's Office, offered a different story about what occurred that day.

In his motion for reconsideration, Zelenka wrote that Robb Odam put his gun on the ground when confronted by Rye, and a witness saw Rye shoot Odam in the back while Odam was lying on the ground.

A medical examiner testified in court that Odam was shot three times in the back and once in the neck.

Because Rye is 60 and faces

30 years in prison, Zelenka wrote that Rye is a serious flight risk if out on bail, knowing he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

But Mathews wrote that Rye, whose father was Richland County sheriff's deputy for 30 years, has long had a respect for the law and abided by it. He said every year at Rye's age is precious.

Attempts to reach Rye were unsuccessful Thursday. A message left for Rye's father, Thomas R. Rye, was not returned.