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SOLVED: Arrest Made in Death of Jackson Man Who was Found with Hands & Feet Bound

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Aiken County authorities have arrested a suspect in the sickening murder of a Jackson man who was found deceased in the cellar of his home with his hands and feet bound.

Adedoyin Babafemi Odutola, 36, was arrested Tuesday at a home in Hephzibah, and he is being held in the murder of 61-year-old Eldon W. Ledford. He is also facing charges of burglary and kidnapping.

Ledford was found dead in the cellar of his 3rd Street home on Nov. 14. Ledford may have been dead for weeks, authorities said, and a cause of death was revealed to be from blunt force injures. Authorities have not announced a motive or commented on any possible relationship between the suspect and victim.

Odutola has a listed address of Riverside Drive in Columbia, S.C., but he was captured Tuesday at a small three-bedroom home at 3038 Mistletoe Avenue in Hephzibah. He was captured by Aiken County with the assistance of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and ATF.

Odutola is being held at the Richmond County Detention Center, pending extradition to Aiken County. The Jail Report can find no background on the suspect, but a booking sheet said he was employed by Bojangles. He is listed as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.

Background on murder. Jackson police responded to a home on Nov. 14, 2021, for a well-being check when neighbors called about a bad smell coming from his house. When the officer arrived, Ledford’s body was discovered in the basement.

“The victim was in a stage of decomposition and his hands and feet were bound,” Coroner Darryl Ables said.

   It turns out that Jackson police had been there before. They first conducted a well-being check on Oct. 20 at the request of the homeowner’s acquaintance. At that time, officers found his car in the driveway and went inside, where they found drawers had been pulled out in all rooms. But they didn’t see Ledford.

   It was bizarre, since he had been offered a position at Fresh market of Augusta after taking a meat-cutting test. But he never came back. Store officials got worried and called him for days without getting an answer.

The Jail Report has never been able to obtain a photo of the victim. If you have one, please text it to 803-487-3224.

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Greg Rickabaugh
Greg Rickabaugh
Greg Rickabaugh is an award-winning crime reporter in the Augusta-Aiken area with experience writing for The Augusta Chronicle, The Augusta Press and serving as publisher of The Jail Report. Rickabaugh is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has appeared on several crime documentaries on the Investigation Discovery channel.
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