Arrest Made in Taylors Murder

A person has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of 63-year-old Alice Owenby, who was found last week in the charred rubble of her home.

Billy Burch, 40, was taken into custody by the Greenvile County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Task Force at 1005 Packs Mountain Road in northern Taylors on Thursday night, according to Jennings Autrey, public information officer with the the Sheriff's Office.

Burch is charged with Owenby's murder, but more charges are pending, Autrey said.

On Feb. 21, in response to a reported house fire there. Though firefighters initially thought the home was unoccupied, by 9 a.m., arson investigators with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office had arrived and discovered Owenby's body buried beneath several feet of rubble in the bathroom of the home.

The Greenville County Coroner's Office said Owenby was shot multiple times in the head before the fire started. A vehicle registered to 301 McConnell Road was found abandoned the morning of the murder on Packs Mountain Road.

According to the arrest warrants against Burch, investigators recovered evidence on Owenby's body that linked Burch to the crime. Investigators also say they can put Burch on McConnell Road the night of the murder. Investigators believe Burch did not know Owenby before the murder.

Waco Childers, who lives at 1005 South Packs Mountain Road, where Burch was taken into custody, declined to provide comment Thursday night.

Burch had an initial bond hearing on Thursday night, where a judge did not set a bond amount. He is currently behind bars at Greenville County Detention Center.