FILE 492 / 11 May 2024 / 70 MIN / express

Murder Moves In

Summerville, South CarolinaListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

James says they are heading down south to Summerville, South Carolina, in southeastern South Carolina, about 30 minutes from Charleston. about 0:03:00

History, in brief

Town note

Summerville is located on a pine-forested ridge.

about 0:05:00

Town note

It was first inhabited in the late 1700s by people coming from the low country.

about 0:05:06

Town note

Settlers came inland for refuge from the summer heat, mosquitoes and disease.

about 0:05:14

Town note

Plantation families lived there from May to September each summer.

about 0:05:25
All 12 history facts

Town note

Summerville is located on a pine-forested ridge.

about 0:05:00

Town note

It was first inhabited in the late 1700s by people coming from the low country.

about 0:05:06

Town note

Settlers came inland for refuge from the summer heat, mosquitoes and disease.

about 0:05:14

Town note

Plantation families lived there from May to September each summer.

about 0:05:25

Town note

In the last decade of the 1800s most of the downtown was destroyed by fire.

about 0:05:45

1886

A huge earthquake in 1886 also damaged the town.

about 0:05:49

Town note

The town was rebuilt and then burned to the ground again.

about 0:06:01

Town note

The Congress of Physicians in Paris declared Summerville one of the world's two best places for treating lung disorders.

about 0:06:31

Town note

It stayed a bedroom community and did not reach 6,000 people until the late 1970s.

about 0:06:55

Town note

The population doubled in the 1980s and has grown sharply over the last 20 years.

about 0:07:03

Town note

The town has two mottos: the Flower Town in the Pines and At the Heart of It All.

about 0:04:17

Town note

Summerville claims to be the birthplace of sweet tea.

about 0:09:42

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$355,200
Median household income$64,507 a year
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2024

Population

"about 50,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2024 about 0:03:39

Population until the late 1970s

"under 6,000"

Direction: below.

As told in 2024 about 0:06:55

Median household income

"$64,507 a year"

Comparison: "national average". No direction stated.

As told in 2024 about 0:04:08

Median home price

"$355,200"

Comparison: "national average". No direction stated.

As told in 2024 about 0:04:12

Angora Way sale price in 2018

"$277,500"

No direction stated.

As told in 2024 about 1:04:53

The reviews

3.3 / 5 · average of 3

5 stars

“A charming and quaint town whose historic areas should be preserved; it is getting overcrowded and the roads need improving.”
about 0:07:09

3 stars

“It is boring and there is not much to do unless you have a job.”
about 0:07:43

2 stars

“Very disappointing: traffic noise, bad roads and strip malls reminded the reviewer of poor Florida beach towns; they prefer a stronger community feel and will keep looking.”
about 0:08:34

In South Carolina

Closest episodes

  1. Begging For DeathJames Island, South Carolina · 15 August 201838 km / 24 miShow on map
  2. The Ozark ThumperCoward, South Carolina · 3 July 2026115 km / 71 miShow on map
  3. Bed Chains & Dark DeedsSocastee, South Carolina · 30 November 2023133 km / 83 miShow on map
  4. A Dumb Ted BundyConway, South Carolina · 23 June 2022140 km / 87 miShow on map
  5. The Ballad Of BambiNixonville, South Carolina · 17 October 2024151 km / 94 miShow on map

The story

After leaving the army she worked as a travelling nurse, and the couple often lived apart. Their life together was chaotic: both drank heavily, took pills and smoked meth and crack, and their arguments repeatedly brought the police. In 2016 they returned to Charleston together, then separated.

There she met Jordan Brooke Lum, born Patricia Ann Hill in Pima County, Arizona, who had changed her name after a divorce. The arrangement soured almost at once.

He reached the house in the afternoon to find Jordan dead. He recorded two conversations, one in which she admitted killing Jordan alone, then left and called 911. He told the operator there had been a murder and that his wife had shown him the body, wrapped in blankets in a crate in the garage; he said she had hit Jordan with a hammer, cut her throat and stabbed her repeatedly.

After she refused to drop it they kicked in the door and disarmed her. In the garage they found Jordan's decomposing body in a wooden crate, with a bloody knife nearby.

The medical examiner, Dr Batalis, testified that the blunt-force wounds to the head, the cut throat and nineteen stab wounds to the chest were each fatal. Over defence objection the judge admitted graphic autopsy photographs, including close-ups of the head and neck wounds.

Jordan is buried at Carolina Memorial Park in North Charleston. The house at Angora Way was sold in 2018 for $277,500.

The case

Murder of Jordan Brooke Lum

Victims

Jordan Brooke Lum. Born Patricia Ann Hill in Pima County, Arizona; changed her name after her divorce. She met in rehab and invited her to live in her house rent free.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 11 May 2024.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Carl Hill. Jordan's father, a US Air Force veteran
Ingrid. Jordan's mother, from South Carolina

The timeline

  1. 1967 is born.about 0:13:02
  2. 1980 is born.about 0:14:11
  3. 2001 marries .about 0:13:41
  4. 2016 The couple return to Charleston together and then separate; stays in a motel paid for with army benefits while lives in a homeless camp on Rivers Avenue. (Charleston)about 0:20:03
  5. February 2017 and Jordan meet in rehab; Jordan invites and her pets to move into Angora Way rent free. (Jordan's house)about 0:26:29
  6. February 2017 Within their first month together the two women drink and fight constantly. (Jordan's house)about 0:27:30
  7. March 2017 asks to beat Jordan up and steal her designer clothes to sell; the plan is never carried out. (Jordan's house)about 0:34:12
  8. Late March 2017 Jordan calls the police on for a second time. (Jordan's house)about 0:35:53
  9. April 2, 2017 texts to collect her truck and come to the house to help her argue with Jordan. (Jordan's house)about 0:37:04
  10. April 2, 2017 drinks, smokes meth and crack, and crashes the truck into a tree on the way.about 0:37:51
  11. April 2, 2017 kills Jordan with a hammer, knives and a screwdriver, inflicting 113 wounds to her head, neck, chest and arms. (Jordan's house)about 0:38:49
  12. April 2, 2017 arrives in the afternoon and finds Jordan dead. (Jordan's house)about 0:38:25

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode