Neighbors describe couple accused in Cherol's murder as "loners"
The Buck Point Road neighborhood where murder suspects Sam and Colette Collins live is one of sharp divisions.
The road, cut in half by a causeway that crosses marshland, is lined with modest homes marked by "No Trespassing" signs on one side and larger, more expensive residences on the other, nearer the water.
That division narrowed a bit Friday, a day after the couple was charged with the murder of 33-year-old Johnathan Cherol, who was killed by a shotgun blast to the head Oct. 28 on the back porch of his 39 Pinecrest Way home.
Neighbors gossiped in their yards Friday morning. One of them, who asked that her name not be used, described Sam Collins, 38, and Colette Collins, 34, as "really aloof."
"We knew from the other neighbors that something was going on," the woman said before declining to say more.
The couple rented the 15 Buck Point Road home for about a year and a half from the owner who lives in Atlanta, according to neighbor James Beaty.
The one-story, burnt orange home has a cluttered front porch with wind chimes hanging from the eaves and what appears to be a camera surveillance system pointed toward the driveway.
"They are just kind of loners," Beaty said. " ... They never visited with anybody."
Beaty, who has lived on the road for 21 years, drives his golf cart up and down it every day to chat with neighbors.
He said the neighborhood is normally quiet and lacks suspicious activity.
Sam Collins was the owner of a landscaping company that he eventually sold, Beaty said.
Both Sam and Colette Collins are being held in the Beaufort County Detention Center. Bond for each has not been set, according to the center's website.
In addition to the murder charge, Sam Collins is being held on the charges of first-degree burglary, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, breaking and entering into an automobile, petit larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm during a violent crime. He was arrested on those charges Nov. 4. He was in the detention center when he was charged with the Cherol murder.
Investigators said Thursday they obtained arrest warrants when they found the shotgun they said was used in the killing, according to Lt. Joseph Babkiewicz of the Bluffton Police Department.
Police declined to say Thursday specifically where the weapon was recovered beyond that it was found outside the Pinecrest neighborhood and led investigators to the couple.
No new information about the investigation or what the motive may have been was released Friday by the Bluffton Police Department.
"Everybody is upset about it," Beaty said of the arrests. "Everybody is concerned, and the lady who lives next door wants them out of there."
Follow Caitlin Turner on Twitter at twitter.com/Cait_E_Turner.
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This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Neighbors describe couple accused in Cherol's murder as "loners"."