By VICKI BROWN
vbrown@lowcountry.com
“Carolina Crimes” is a new weekly episodic true crime podcast dedicated exclusively to covering true crimes committed in the State of South Carolina.
On March 1st, 2021, the “Carolina Crimes” Podcast debuted across all major podcast mediums, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHEART Radio and many others.
The podcast is hosted by Matt Hiers, a radio broadcasting personality from Rock Hill, S.C. who was born in Walterboro. Hiers attended Forrest Hills Elementary before moving to Rock Hill in the second grade. He also attended The Citadel, and currently lives with his wife and two daughters in Rock Hill.
“I started part time in radio in 2015, calling high school football games on the OTS Sports Network (WRHI in Rock Hill). Through the years, my part time involvement with the radio station has blossomed into the production side of things, including productions of Winthrop University Sports broadcasts, as well as live weekend programming in the form of a live two-hour gospel music show on Sundays and a one-hour gardening advice show on Saturdays,” said Hiers. “Basically, my 9-5 job keeps food on the table, but broadcasting keeps me happy.
“I still perform color analyst duties on high school football games on Friday nights in the Fall, and now in the Spring across the border into North Carolina, as well,” he added.
“This is my first foray into podcasting. I actually didn’t know what a podcast was until three years ago when I started listening to a few,” said Hiers. “Carolina Crimes has organic roots as my cohost, Danielle Myers, is my sister-in-law and a current operative for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).”
According to Hiers, he and Myers would discuss “true crime” books that that two have read. “These discussions turned into hours-long conversations, about all of the interesting and bizarre cases that we had come across, until one day during the pandemic I thought, ‘Hey, these discussions could be a podcast,’” he said. “When we started doing initial research, we discovered so many cases in South Carolina that we had never heard of, or only heard half of the story.
“That’s what led us to focusing solely on our home state,” he said. Presently, eight episodes are currently available with new episodes being published each Monday.
The latest episode was available on April 5th and covered the recently solved cold case of Elaine Fogle, whose murder took place in 1978 in Walterboro. Fogle was found dead in her home on Lemacks Street by her roommate and a friend about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday morning, May 28, 1978.
She had been severely beaten and sexually assaulted. Fogle had been strangled with a fire poker that was bent around her neck. James Willie Butterfield, 59, of Walterboro, was arrested and charged with murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree burglary on December 2, 2015. His arrest came 37 years after the crime occurred.
This case hits home for Hiers, who said he recently discovered that his mother knew Elaine Fogle from working at Colleton Regional Hospital prior to the crime.
Heirs held an in depth recorded interview on April 5th with Lt. Rita Shuler, the 71-year-old retired SLED agent who was integral in solving Elaine’s case, he said. The arrest was made by the Walterboro Police Department.
This podcast on Fogle’s murder will be published this week.
Listeners of this episode will also be directed to donate to The Elaine Fogle Scholarship, which is awarded annually by The Colleton Regional Medical Center Auxiliary.
For more podcast information please call Matt Hiers at 803-242-4215 or reply to hiersm2001@gmail.com
