Tragedy struck Aiken on Tuesday as the Aiken County authorities launch an investigation into the death of 78-year-old Swint E. Bradberry Jr.
Bradberry, known to the community as “Porky Bradberry,” was discovered lifeless inside a bedroom at 915 Brookhaven Drive during a reported burglary investigation conducted by Aiken Department of Public Safety officers. Bradberry was the name behind Porky Bradberry’s Jewelry on Whiskey Road, an Aiken business that underwent new ownership in 2020 while keeping the name.
In Tuesday’s homicide, Aiken officers responded around 8 a.m. to a burglary call and initiated a search of the residence, revealing the elderly man’s body with apparent blunt force injuries to the head. Bradberry was pronounced dead at the scene, and his body is scheduled for autopsy on Thursday afternoon in Newberry, Coroner Darryl Ables said.
The joint efforts of the Coroner’s Office, ADPS, Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are focused on unraveling the circumstances leading to Bradberry’s tragic death. The investigation is being treated as a homicide due to the nature of the injuries, authorities said.
Authorities are urging anyone with information related to the incident to come forward. The ADPS hotline at (803) 642-7620 and an online tip submission portal on the City of Aiken’s website remain open for contributions from the public.
In a 2020 news article, new ownership of Porky Bradberry’s Jewelry was announced with Jamie Whittle taking over the business while keeping the name.
“Every customer that comes in the store, the first thing they do is ask, ‘Where’s Porky? How’s Porky?” Whittle told the Aiken Standard. “He’s a person friend to most of these people.”
Bradberry’s parents, Swint and Elizabeth Bradberry, started a jewelry shop in New Ellenton in the 1950s, which later moved to downtown Aiken. When the couple retired in the 1980s, Bradberry Jr. helped them go out of business and opened up his own shop on Whiskey Road.
“I loved everything about being in the jewelry business,” he told the Aiken Standard. “But my favorite thing was my customers. … They would come in and talk to me, and we had a great time.”
