A Ridgeland SC prisoner known as ‘Animal’ convicted of killing fellow inmate in 2017
A former prisoner known as “Animal” who was incarcerated at the Ridgeland Correctional Institute has been found guilty of murdering a fellow inmate in 2017.
Benjamin Walter “Animal” Dubois III, 39, was found guilty on Friday in Jasper County General Sessions Court for the stabbing death of Jerry Douglas Holmes.
On June 22, 2017, Holmes was found unresponsive in his cell, which was covered in blood. An autopsy determined that he was stabbed in the neck with a homemade weapon and also suffered more than 80 additional wounds. Investigators recovered several weapons that had been doused in bleach from a trash can near Holmes’ cell.
Dubois was seen carrying a homemade ice pick in his waistband and entering Holmes’ cell just before inmates reported hearing screams, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Dubois was then seen covered in blood and walking toward the cellblock shower.
He has been sentenced to life without parole due to South Carolina’s “three strikes law,” which makes this sentence mandatory for defendants convicted of two “most serious” offenses or any combination of three “serious” or “most serious” offenses. Both murder and voluntary manslaughter are considered “most serious” offenses.
“This killing was savage and premeditated,” said Reed Evans of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “Mr. Dubois clearly is not suited for the outside world, and fortunately, he will spend the rest of his years in prison.”
At the time of Holmes’ murder, Dubois was serving 10 years for voluntary manslaughter and second-degree assault and battery charges from 2012 in an offense from Berkeley County.
Dubois’ criminal history also includes convictions for grand larceny, check fraud and breaking into motor vehicles. He received at least 16 disciplinary sanctions while in the S.C. Department of Corrections, for offenses ranging from possession of contraband to threatening and striking prison employees, the release said.
During the trial, Evans called 11 witnesses during the four days of testimony at the Jasper County County Courthouse, a release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said. They included a pathologist, a DNA expert and Dubois’ fellow inmates.
This story was originally published August 5, 2023 at 10:12 AM.
