Dateline: The Charleston Affair
Did you catch Dateline this week? It profiled the strange and bizarre story of Chris and Nancy Latham. The two were in the mist of a divorce in South Carolina. Chris was a well-to-do banker for Bank of America and a well respect man in the community.
One night on the bad side of town, a patrol officer pulled over a car that had turned off its lights in while still driving. Yes, the cops were on to something, but much more than they realized.
The driver inside was 39-year old Aaron Wilkinson, and he was with his wife and dog. They were from out-of-town. Wilkinson admits that he was looking to buy drugs, but when the cops searched his vehicle, they found a loaded gun. Oddly, Wilkinson confessed to being pulled into a murder-for-hire plot. The plan, he said, was for him to kill Nancy Latham. That’s why he was in town. He had a “hit” file, if you will, which detailed everything about Nancy’s life. It caught everyone’s attention that this was a very serious and urgent matter as Wilkinson said.
The story then takes some incredible twists and turns.
Wilkinson says he didn’t want to do it, but he was being put up to it by his friend Samuel Yenawine who was at one time his cellmate in a Kentucky prison. He said he feared Yenawine, who had already killed someone.
We find out the Chris Latham’s new live-in girlfriend and secretary at Bank of America, Wendy Moore, was married to Samuel Yenawine. And Moore met with Wilkinson and Yenawine to give them the important documents to carry out the hit. She also gave them three separate payments–two under her name and one under an alias.
Wendy’s story? She said she was just giving Yenawine money to purchase a vehicle for their children, who resided with Yenawine.
This was an intriguing case of “whodunnit”.
Who was telling the truth? Who was the real mastermind behind it all?
I believe Aaron Wilkinson told the truth for the most part that Samuel Yenawine roped him into the situation and that he was afraid of Yenawine. Yenawine was truly someone to fear. I also believe he didn’t want to kill Nancy Latham. I believe that. He had a conscience. He was a troubled man, but a smart man.
I don’t believe Wendy Moore at all nor do I believe Chris Latham. Wendy Moore wants us to believe she is this sweet poor soul who did nothing wrong. It was absurd. And Chris Latham is a smart guy. He knew exactly who to use to get things done and keep his distance.
When I listen to the jailhouse tapes, the one who seems to be controlling the situation between Wendy and Chris is Chris. I believe he was ultimately the mastermind behind the murder for hire plot, but I don’t believe Wendy was innocent in this either. She clearly took an active part by choice.
I went back and read the news reports on the story, and Nancy Latham believes that when she discovered Chris’s affair with Wendy, had she disclosed it and testified about it in court, it would have cost Chris his job because an affair was against company policy. Furthermore, she believes that with the expensive divorce, removing her from the equation would have eliminated a lot of financial burden for Chris as well. This makes complete sense.
Thank goodness for Nancy that Aaron Wilkinson confessed and everything unfolded like it did.
I believe you are right on, Eyes. Chris strikes me as a very cold man, who picks up messed up people for his purposes. It is hard to say, which of the people, he chose to use(Wendy, Samuel or Aaron) was the most messed up.
Aaron was not a bad person, and he certainly wasn’t a killer. He was so drug addicted that he was barely hanging on to who he really was. Wendy and her stories about talking to Jesus and taking courses from a Christian university, is a ridiculous person. She wants us to believe her spin while she has an affair with a married man and helps hatch murder plots. I nearly pulled my hair out trying to decide if she was sick, weak, just plain evil or, maybe, all three.
Nancy seems like a good person, who truly seems dumbfounded by the whole mess.
Samuel’s part in this whole thing is confusing. I couldn’t decide if he was still in love with Wendy or, if there was more for him to gain if Nancy was out of the way, and Wendy was married to this wealthy man.
There were so many twists and hidden plots in all of this, and it was a real brain teaser. I don’t believe the truth has surfaced with any of these people. I am still shaking my head over this story!
I believe you are right on, Eyes. Chris strikes me as a very cold man, who picks up messed up people for his purposes. It is hard to say, which of the people, he chose to use(Wendy, Samuel or Aaron) was the most messed up.
Aaron was not a bad person, and he certainly wasn’t a killer. He was so drug addicted that he was barely hanging on to who he really was. Wendy and her stories about talking to Jesus and taking courses from a Christian university, is a ridiculous person. She wants us to believe her spin while she has an affair with a married man and helps hatch murder plots. I nearly pulled my hair out trying to decide if she was sick, weak, just plain evil or, maybe, all three.
Nancy seems like a good person, who truly seems dumbfounded by the whole mess.
Samuel’s part in this whole thing is confusing. I couldn’t decide if he was still in love with Wendy or, if there was more for him to gain if Nancy was out of the way, and Wendy was married to this wealthy man.
There were so many twists and hidden plots in all of this, and it was a real brain teaser. I don’t believe the truth has surfaced with any of these people. I am still shaking my head over this story!
This one is easy. Never trust a stripper. Nor a banker.
This one is easy. Never trust a stripper. Nor a banker.
This is a poignant story, with redemption and justice.
Follow your conscience and great things can happen.
I hope Mr. Wilkinson can get some help when he’s released. he’s not your flawed hero but a hero nonetheless.
He is..because the first time they did this no one stepped up..and my friends kids grew up without a father because of them.. The victum survived this time thanks to Aaron, so they couldnt twist the story and demonize the victum in court and get away with it again..
What ever happened to Samuel Yenawine? The ORIGINAL hitman??? The police have a recording of Aaron & Sam discussing this which proves that Sam is the “original” hitman. Yes, Chris & Wendy conspired & should be charged, but… Aaron confessed immediately & didn’t go through with it. Are you telling me Samuel Yenawine got off Scott free???
I didnt see this when it originally aired, but Im about to find it online..so I dont know if it aired befor or after..but Sam hung himself in prison. I dont know if he’d even been convicted yet, but it was early June 2012…I knew him back in KY and his first victum..so I try to stay up to date on this case as much as possible..
I never knew this was on Dateline..but I knew both Moore and Yenawine from when they lived in KY, befor during and after Sam’s first trial (was friends with the victum as well) ..and both are sociopaths, her maybe slightly even more than him.. She ran a prostitution ring out of the apartment above my friends place, and took men like Chris Latham for all they had (not that I dont think hes equally as guilty in this case)..Several people made calls to CPS because we knew the kids were up there during all this and nothing was ever done.. Sam was her go to when she needed anything done..especially when she didnt get what she wanted. Sam and Wendy were one in the same. They fed off of each others chaos and liked it.. Friends always suspected that she had a hand in the first murder Sam commited, because everyone of us who knew the first victum knew what was and had really been going on and had a good idea because of that as to what happened that night.. but in court, it was all hear say and Sam’s defense even if it was a lie was all that mattered.. Thats why when Sam killed himself, we all knew it was because he couldnt twist the story around and get by with it again, because the victum survived this time and was in court to tell her story..Wendy’s defense that she was “easily swayed” by men was the exsact opposite, she is a total sucubus and Ive seen it first hand, and the things she did to get what she wanted.. Im glad the courts finally saw through it and put her in a place she couldnt hurt anyone els for a very long time..Im just sorry that her and sam’s kids had to suffer, and there are 2 boys in KY that grew up without their father befor anything was done about it..