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.