Her husband is guilty in Bluffton murder. Now she’ll be tried in restaurateur’s death

A 36-year-old Bluffton woman charged in connection with an October 2015 murder is scheduled to stand trial in Beaufort County court this week.

Colette Collins will go to trial charged with accessory after the fact to murder in connection with the shooting death of Jonathan Cherol, online Beaufort County court documents showed.

Cherol, a 33-year-old part-owner of Pepper's Old Town in Bluffton at the time, was killed on the back porch of his 39 Pinecrest Way home on Oct. 28, 2015. Collins’ husband, Samuel Collins, was convicted of Cherol’s murder in October 2017 and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Colette and Samuel Collins were described as “aloof” and “loners” by neighbors shortly after the killing.

Samuel Collins fired two shotgun shots from Cherol’s backyard shortly after midnight, striking a neighbor’s home with the first shot and Cherol with his second, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Surveillance video in the neighborhood, DNA, interviews and text messages linked Collins to the murder.

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Her husband is guilty in Bluffton murder. Now she’ll be tried in restaurateur’s death."