Bessinger kidnapper sentenced to 38 years

Date: 5/9/2007

Judge gives Priest 38 years in prison

By Prentiss Findlay

The Post and Courier

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

A cool-headed Tommy Bessinger Jr. tricked his kidnapper into leaving him alone long enough to get free and call the police.

After police arrested Charles Allan Priest, they found a chilling note in his car.

"Die if necessary. But kill all around first. Do not be taken alive," read Scarlett Wilson, 9th Circuit chief deputy solicitor.

Priest, shackled at the waist, pleaded guilty to all of the charges against him, including kidnapping, armed robbery and grand larceny. His family pleaded for mercy Tuesday, but Circuit Judge Michelle Childs cited the horrific nature of the crimes before sentencing Priest to 38 years in prison. Wilson said Priest, 50, must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

At one point in his Feb. 16, 2006, ordeal, Bessinger was tied to a kitchen chair in his West Ashley home, afraid that an explosive was attached to his wrist. He got free when he convinced Priest to return money he had stolen from Bessinger's Bar-B-Q so as not to arouse suspicion. Bessinger promised Priest he would get money out of the bank for him instead.

"It was like a surreal experience. It just didn't feel real," Bessinger said.

He said he was "very happy" with Priest's sentence.

Priest apologized to Bessinger by reading letters he wrote to him in prison but never looked at his victim. "I am so sorry to have done what I did to you. I am truly sorry for all the pain and suffering I have caused you," he said. Priest said he had intended to ask Michael Bessinger, the man who fired him and brother of Tommy Bessinger, about getting back his job as a Bessinger's manager. Instead, after drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels, Priest kidnapped Tommy Bessinger outside the family's Savannah Highway restaurant.

"I never meant for any of that night to happen. I do not know why I did what I did that day. Will you ever be able to forgive me? If not, please don't hate me," Priest said.

Jason King, Priest's public defender, said in court that Priest had attempted suicide in 2001 and 2005. Priest had a drinking problem and suffered from anxiety and depression, King said.

King said Priest was suicidal when he committed his crimes. Priest considered confronting the police so they would shoot him and end his life, his lawyer said. "He was severely intoxicated on drugs and alcohol," King said.

Priest's wife, Brenda, struggled to hold back tears as she asked Childs for leniency. "The person who committed this crime is not the man I married. He's never displayed a violent temper or any aggression toward me. I can't imagine how empty my life will be without him," she said.

Wilson said after reviewing eyewitness and video evidence in the case, she determined that Priest's actions were deliberate and thought-out as opposed to the impulsive acts of an intoxicated man. She reviewed hours of restaurant video of the crime to reach her conclusions.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.

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