The Hit-and-Run Homicide of Davis McClendon

Summary

48 Hours: The Hit-and-Run Homicide of Davis McClendon
Hosted by CBS News
Release Date: March 3, 2025

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of “48 Hours”, CBS News delves deep into the tragic hit-and-run homicide of Davis McClendon, a case that shattered the Greenwood, South Carolina community. Through meticulous reporting, compelling interviews, and thorough examination of evidence, the episode unravels the complex layers of this high-profile case, leading to the exoneration of the innocent and the conviction of the guilty.

Background

Davis McClendon, a 46-year-old beloved community member, was found dead on the night of May 7, 2023. Initially presumed to be a traffic accident, further investigation revealed disturbing evidence pointing to foul play. Davis had been in a relationship with Meredith Haney, a grammar school teacher, following her separation from her estranged husband, William "Bud" Ackerman, a local auto body shop owner.

Notable Quote:

“Davis was so kind and I mean his heart was huge. We enjoyed each other so much. It was an amazing six months.”
— Meredith Haney [02:21]

The Night of the Incident

On the evening of May 7, 2023, Meredith Haney and Davis McClendon were enjoying a night out when Davis didn’t return a call from Meredith, prompting her concern. Assisted by Megan McGovern, they drove to the reported location where Davis was last seen, only to discover his lifeless body lying across the road, severely injured from what appeared to be a vehicle impact.

Notable Quote:

“I couldn't piece anything together. Davis car was way over there and his body was way down here. And I was like, how'd he end up down here?”
— Meredith Haney [03:00]

Investigation

Initial observations suggested a hit-and-run incident involving a BMW 5 Series. However, inconsistencies at the scene—such as Davis being far from his wrecked car and the presence of significant oil slicks—led investigators to suspect intentional harm rather than an accident.

Detective Patrick Durkin and Investigator Ronnie Powell of the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office concluded that the damage to the BMW and the trail of oil indicated that Davis was not merely a victim of circumstance but was intentionally targeted.

Notable Quote:

“Photographs of the crime scene, the text messages from Davis's phone, the ring videos... how could any of this possibly happen?”
— Meredith Haney [03:15]

The Arrest and Trial

Suspicion quickly fell on William "Bud" Ackerman, Meredith's estranged husband. Evidence revealed that Bud had been tracking Meredith and Davis's movements on the night of the incident. His Ford F250 pickup exhibited signs of having struck Davis, supported by forensic data from the vehicle's infotainment system and neighbor doorbell camera footage.

During the trial, prosecutors presented damning evidence, including:

• Timestamped Videos: Neighbor doorbell cameras captured Bud's truck driving through the scene moments before the crash.
• Infotainment Data: Detailed logs showed Bud's vehicle speed, braking patterns, and location data aligning with the time of the incident.
• Audio Evidence: Partial audio recordings suggested Bud was verbally abusive towards Davis post-collision.

Notable Quote:

“Bud Ackerman is guilty of the murder of Davis McClendon.”
— Meredith Haney [40:36]

Defense's Argument

Bud Ackerman's defense attorney, Jack Swirling, contested the prosecution's claims by highlighting:

• Lack of Intent: Swirling argued that the collision was an accident, emphasizing Bud's lack of violent history.
• Questionable Audio Evidence: He stated that the audio recordings were too garbled to conclusively prove Bud's involvement.
• Behavior Post-Collision: Bud's actions after the incident, including driving to his parents' house and not immediately calling 911, were portrayed as non-indicative of conscious intent to harm.

Notable Quote:

“He didn't want to be the reason that, you know, we didn't get our family back together.”
— Meredith Haney [09:27]

Verdict and Sentencing

After six days of testimony and overwhelming evidence, the jury deliberated for less than half an hour, swiftly reaching a unanimous verdict. Bud Ackerman was found guilty of Davis McClendon's murder and sentenced to 45 years in state department corrections.

Notable Quote:

“We think there's enough evidence at the scene to prove what occurred.”
— Meredith Haney [19:39]

Aftermath

The conviction brought a sense of closure to Meredith Haney and the community, but the emotional toll was immense. Meredith reflected on the impact of Davis's death, stating, “Davis saved my life” [43:31]. As she moves forward, she focuses on rebuilding her life and supporting her three children, determined to leave the trauma behind.

Notable Quote:

“I was scared that he was still out there.”
— Meredith Haney [33:35]

Conclusion

“The Hit-and-Run Homicide of Davis McClendon” is a poignant exploration of love, betrayal, and justice. Through comprehensive reporting and in-depth analysis, “48 Hours” not only shed light on the intricate details of the case but also highlighted the resilience of those left behind. This episode serves as a testament to the relentless pursuit of truth by CBS News correspondents, ensuring that justice prevails even in the most challenging circumstances.

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Transcript

[Meredith Haney]

Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet? Yeah, sold it to Carvana. Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy. The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency. No interest over 36 months. Yeah, no. Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient. Just like that? Yeah. No hassle? None. That is super convenient. Sell your car to Carvana and swap.

[Bud Ackerman]

Hassle for convenience, pick up.

[Meredith Haney]

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[Bud Ackerman]

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[Meredith Haney]

Of award winning antivirus and identity theft protection. All for just $39.99 for your first year. Visit McAfee.com/Untime Terms apply Greenwood I lived here half my life. Everyone knows everyone and their business. I have decided to set the story straight. It's still surreal. I still. I think maybe I'll wake up. We were out for my birthday. I remember I was just sitting at the bar and he sat down beside me and we just talked the rest of the night.

[Bud Ackerman]

You were there the night she met Davis?

[Meredith Haney]

I was. I was there that night.

[Bud Ackerman]

Did it seem like there was chemistry?

[Meredith Haney]

Immediately I would immediately. Davis, he was so kind and I mean his heart was huge. We enjoyed each other so much. It was an amazing six months. Meredith, her and Davis, they would go on away weekends a lot. I liked him. His smile was so contagious and he's just such a sweet guy. I would have never expected this to happen ever. Greenwich County 911 but it's a one person. Tyrex. Okay.

[Bud Ackerman]

It was a car wreck and somebody is hurt.

[Meredith Haney]

I pull up right beside Davis car and he wasn't in his car. And that's when I noticed his airbags were out. So then also that's when I kind of started looking at the car more and noticed that his front tire was smashed in. And I remember looking and I noticed there's a body. Meredith just started like screaming like who is it? Who is it?

[Bud Ackerman]

And you look over, what do you think you are looking at?

[Meredith Haney]

Davis, he was laying there and his head was rested on the slot like a pillow and he was shirtless and.

[Bud Ackerman]

His face was covered in blood. Was there anything about the scene that struck you as odd?

[Meredith Haney]

Davis being all the way on the other side of the Road, the car being wrecked, like none of that. I couldn't piece anything together. Davis car was way over there and his body was way down here. And I was like, well, how'd he end up down here?

[Bud Ackerman]

That's quite a distance.

[Meredith Haney]

Yeah, to hear it is quite a distance. Originally it came out as a, as a possible traffic accident. And then once officers arrived on scene, they realized it was more than that. A lot of people think it was an auto accident. Well, no, it wasn't. I do believe that this was an accident and not an intentional killing. It was a murder. I was in shock. I was like, it doesn't even make sense. The photographs of the crime scene, the text messages from Davis phone, the ring videos, looking at everything and the totality of the case was very powerful. How could any of this possibly happen? There were so many things missing from the story. And once I kind of get that out there, then I can close the chapter. Ann Marie Green reports the hit and.

[Bud Ackerman]

Run homicide of Davis McClendon.

[Meredith Haney]

Charlotte Romeo 974 and 1028 Whiskey Echo Victor 253.

[Bud Ackerman]

It was May 7, 2023, just after 1am when authorities responded to a reported road accident on a secluded dead end street in Greenwood, South Carolina.

[Meredith Haney]

Start roping this off because this is going to be a crime scene.

[Bud Ackerman]

At the edge of the nearby woods, they would find 46 year old Davis McClendon's body. But what they saw at first was on the road itself. A shirt, a shoe and a mangled sedan.

[Meredith Haney]

And there was significant damage to the fender.

[Bud Ackerman]

It was a BMW 5 Series, similar to this one we're using to demonstrate the position of the vehicle that night. After first responders had locked everything down, Greenwood County Sheriff's office investigator Patrick Durkin arrived to photograph the scene.

[Meredith Haney]

The front driver, side wheel was turned slightly.

[Bud Ackerman]

Whatever had transpired at this deserted crossroads, Durkin's job was to freeze it in time. First responders had thought Davis McClendon's injuries seemed consistent with having been hit by a vehicle. Though no other vehicle relating to the collision was there. They'd found Davis body about 50ft away from the BMW, leading them to suspect he'd been outside his car when he was hit.

[Meredith Haney]

There was no rain or anything that would potentially wash anything away. So the main thing I focused on was the vehicle.

[Bud Ackerman]

Durkin says he noticed some strange damage to the BMW.

[Meredith Haney]

Usually when we would use think of a normal fender bender, it would just kind of be pressed into it and this was torn back like a tuna can.

[Bud Ackerman]

In a sense it had made authorities wonder if it was a hit and run or something more sinister. Those airbags were out, and a phone was on the front passenger seat. Durkin saw more debris in the road, but nothing particularly telling.

[Meredith Haney]

The assumption was that he was struck by a vehicle.

[Bud Ackerman]

Investigator Ronnie Powell from the Greenwood County Sheriff's office says authorities had learned more by speaking to two women at the scene. Meredith Haney and Megan McGovern, who'd called 911. Megan often babysat for Meredith's three children.

[Meredith Haney]

They provided statements of what they saw and what had occurred all night long.

[Bud Ackerman]

What did Meredith say?

[Meredith Haney]

She pretty much gave a summary of the whole backstory, that she had been dating Davis.

[Bud Ackerman]

Meredith had told authorities that Davis left a club they'd been in that night, calling her minutes later from the road, saying he was parked at the intersection of Avett Road and Sawgrass Place when he'd put her on hold and then failed to come back on the line. Meredith was worried and got a ride there from Megan. It was Megan the babysitter who'd gotten out of her car and was the first to see Davis body. That news must have been stunning.

[Meredith Haney]

Yeah, it was devastating. It was. It was crushing.

[Bud Ackerman]

Davis McClendon was the ultimate people person without an enemy in the world, say his friends Chip Funderbunk.

[Meredith Haney]

Everybody loved Davis. He was just awesome.

[Bud Ackerman]

Zach Calhoun, he loved Big and Johnny.

[Meredith Haney]

Coates and what Zach said. He was everyone's best friend. He was. He loved everyone.

[Bud Ackerman]

But none of them could remember Davis ever mentioning the specifics of his love life, not until he met Meredith Haney.

[Meredith Haney]

He told me that he had met somebody and they had just kind of been chatting and, you know, enjoying getting to know each other. You know, it seemed. Seemed like a good thing, seemed like a positive thing for sure.

[Bud Ackerman]

Calhoun says Davis had gone through a divorce, but the end of his marriage hadn't done anything to weaken his devotion as a father and a friend, even to the residents of the retirement home where he worked.

[Meredith Haney]

He was the most empathetic person I've ever met.

[Bud Ackerman]

More than four months before Davis died on the night of December 23, 2022, Meredith was at that club celebrating her 39th birthday with her best friends. She says they were wearing their worst Christmas sweaters when the handsome stranger struck up a conversation.

[Meredith Haney]

And I think he text on Christmas Day and then the next day and.

[Bud Ackerman]

Then the next, and you just kept on talking until meeting Davis. She says she'd been keeping her head down. Just about six months earlier, she had left her husband of 10 years, a local auto body shop owner named Bud Ackerman. And she was struggling to balance parenting, their three kids and her job as a grammar school teacher. She says she knew getting involved with someone new would not be easy. Was there any hesitancy about moving forward with this?

[Meredith Haney]

There, I mean, there was.

[Bud Ackerman]

She says first, Davis wanted to make sure she had no intention of reconciling her marriage.

[Meredith Haney]

He didn't want to be the reason that, you know, we didn't get our family back together. So we made sure from the get go that that wasn't going to be an issue. And it was just, it just happened.

[Bud Ackerman]

They would have less than six months together. Could you start to guess what may have happened, how it was hit? The night of Davis death at the site, investigator Patrick Durkin noticed something beyond the strangeness of the crashed car and Davis's distance from it. There was an oil slick in the road. It's still here.

[Meredith Haney]

Just over a year later, it's still here. But there was a number of footprints and some tire tracks that were leading away from this oil stain.

[Bud Ackerman]

And what did that tell you when you saw it?

[Meredith Haney]

Well, we knew that there was some type of impact to the vehicle. And then we knew there was oil and tire marks that left.

[Bud Ackerman]

From here, it looked like evidence from the vehicle that hit Davis. You guys are looking around and you realize the oil continues.

[Meredith Haney]

You could see it was very obvious that there was tire marks that had gone back down the road and kind of turned around back where the tire.

[Bud Ackerman]

Tracks seemed to show a vehicle had turned around. Investigators had found oil spatters on a streetlight post.

[Meredith Haney]

It was about maybe this high.

[Bud Ackerman]

And from there there was a trail of oil that had led down the road into the distance.

[Meredith Haney]

It's breadcrumbs, basically, in a manner of speaking. You know, we just have to do the investigation and see what evidence is there and see where it leads us to. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.

[Bud Ackerman]

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[Meredith Haney]

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[Bud Ackerman]

More exciting and innovative technology and advanced.

[Meredith Haney]

Safety features for all your precious cargo.

[Bud Ackerman]

The new Volvo XC90, designed for life. Visit volvocars.com us to learn more.

[Meredith Haney]

There was a trail that led from from the incident location.

[Bud Ackerman]

Investigator Ronnie Powell says by the time authorities started following that oil trail from the crash site, they had a solid hunch where it might lead. Davis McClendon's girlfriend, Meredith Haney, had told them she'd suspected where he had been going when he left her at the bar that night to meet her estranged husband, Bud Ackerman. And it turns out the oily evidence led right to Ackerman's parents house.

[Meredith Haney]

Garage is open.

[Bud Ackerman]

He'd been living there since separating from Meredith about a year earlier.

[Meredith Haney]

Sheriff's office. Yes, sir.

[Bud Ackerman]

Authorities. Body cameras were rolling.

[Meredith Haney]

He kind of walked up and almost was expecting us.

[Bud Ackerman]

Bud Ackerman and his father were both standing near the garage.

[Meredith Haney]

Are there some kids here? Yeah. Okay. Whose kids are they? Mine. Yours and who? My wife. Okay.

[Bud Ackerman]

Bud had spent the day with his three kids at a local festival. He and his wife Meredith had a custody arrangement and it was his night with the kids. But in the driveway, authorities noticed his white Ford F250 pickup.

[Meredith Haney]

That's wild.

[Bud Ackerman]

With oil leaking from the undercarriage. They also noticed a crack in the grill and other evidence that suggested the vehicle had hit someone.

[Meredith Haney]

That's a palm mark.

[Bud Ackerman]

Investigators turned to Bud.

[Meredith Haney]

Do you have your ID on you? I do not. Okay. Just step over here for me.

[Bud Ackerman]

Authorities say Bud told them he would not answer questions without his lawyer present. But from speaking with Meredith, they learned she had a contentious relationship with her soon to be ex husband and came to suspect a jealous Bud Ackerman had mowed Davis McClendon down. Looking at the scene, they deduced Davis had been standing outside his BMW, as shown in this CBS News animation. Based on their investigation, they suspect Bud's pickup truck stop sideswiped the sedan and hit Davis, carrying him on the vehicle's grill and depositing his body across the road. Meredith says Bud had been upset since reaching out to her days earlier when he found out she was dating Davis.

[Meredith Haney]

He texted me.

[Bud Ackerman]

What did he text you?

[Meredith Haney]

He said something about Meredith. How could you?

[Bud Ackerman]

What was your reaction to that text?

[Meredith Haney]

I think it was hurt like I was. I felt bad because I just don't like to hurt people. I don't like people to be hurt. So I felt Bad.

[Bud Ackerman]

What had begun years earlier as a promising marriage that would bear three kids had fallen apart.

[Meredith Haney]

He was a good father. He was a really good dad.

[Bud Ackerman]

Bud was from a prominent local family, and he was a business owner. But Meredith says his work had become stressful.

[Meredith Haney]

I started to notice, like, some depression and things like that that I've never.

[Bud Ackerman]

Seen before, she says. He started drinking a lot, and the more he drank, she says, the more unpredictable he became.

[Meredith Haney]

There was screaming, cussing.

[Bud Ackerman]

You felt threatened?

[Meredith Haney]

Absolutely.

[Bud Ackerman]

Meredith says he never laid a hand on her, but destroyed her sense of self.

[Meredith Haney]

The house was never clean enough. There were never enough groceries. It was so loud and vulgar. It was very degrading.

[Bud Ackerman]

Then, she says, she noticed her husband was starting to become paranoid. She remembers being in her closet one day and noticing a strange pillow.

[Meredith Haney]

They'd cut a hole in it.

[Bud Ackerman]

According to Meredith, there was a hidden camera inside.

[Meredith Haney]

And then I started finding more of them.

[Bud Ackerman]

What other places did you find cameras?

[Meredith Haney]

Oh, there was one hidden in our dresser that faced the bed. Found one in a bush in the front yard. He put them in all the kids rooms.

[Bud Ackerman]

She says that was the last straw. They separated in the spring of 2022.

[Meredith Haney]

I could breathe. I could be me again.

[Bud Ackerman]

Meredith says the separation seemed to help Bud, too, that he'd stop drinking and kept going to church with her and the kids. But by then, she decided it was too late.

[Meredith Haney]

When I was done, I was done.

[Bud Ackerman]

And starting again with someone new seemed like a distant dream, Meredith says, until that night, Davis McClendon sauntered up and sat down in her life. They tried to keep things low key at first. Meredith says she never wanted to rub Bud's nose in it. So what did you all do?

[Meredith Haney]

We would go out of town.

[Bud Ackerman]

But Meredith says they knew they couldn't sneak around forever. And it had started seeming like her new relationship with Davis was a forever kind of thing.

[Meredith Haney]

We talked about sitting on the porch, rocking chairs at 80, and it was just a different kind of relationship.

[Bud Ackerman]

But after Bud found out, there were new complications. He accused you of cheating.

[Meredith Haney]

Yeah.

[Bud Ackerman]

Even though you were weeks away from your divorce.

[Meredith Haney]

Right.

[Bud Ackerman]

Meredith says Bud actually called Davis and asked him to back off until the divorce was official. What was Davis reaction to that request?

[Meredith Haney]

I think he agreed. But then we talked about it and decided that was just giving him another little piece of control.

[Bud Ackerman]

And on the night Davis died, she says Bud seemed out of control. Back at his parents house, investigators now had a warrant and were finding more clues that Ackerman had been at the crash site.

[Meredith Haney]

Oily Footprints. Oily footprints.

[Bud Ackerman]

At about 6:30am On May 7, 2023, Bud Ackerman was arrested. He would be charged with the murder of Davis McClendon.

[Meredith Haney]

We think there's enough evidence at the scene to prove of what occurred.

[Bud Ackerman]

So by the end of the night, you already have someone in custody?

[Meredith Haney]

Yes.

[Bud Ackerman]

What's left to do?

[Meredith Haney]

That's just the beginning.

[Bud Ackerman]

Because it turns out Bud Ackerman did have a story to tell. He says Davis was standing near the middle of a dark road, approximately. Shown in this CBS News animation. Bud says he didn't see Davis until it was too late, that hitting him had been an accident. And Bud's team says they can prove it. Investigators are confident they could prove Bud Ackerman's truck had hit and killed Davis McClendon. But they knew proving Ackerman had done it on purpose might be harder.

[Meredith Haney]

Building a case starts from that night.

[Bud Ackerman]

And when investigators looked at that night, they learned Bud Ackerman had been tracking Davis and Meredith's whereabouts for hours.

[Meredith Haney]

He was trying to find them that night, and he was not happy about this whole situation.

[Bud Ackerman]

Using security, video phone records and even data from Bud's own truck, authorities built a timeline. They began with Meredith's phone. Lt. Matthew Womack of the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office.

[Meredith Haney]

We were able to extract the information, such as the calls and the texts.

[Bud Ackerman]

A slew of calls and text messages Bud had made to Meredith leading up to the collision. At 8:54pm Bud, Bud texts Meredith. Why do you hate me? I just don't understand. She doesn't respond to him. She's out with Davis at a local restaurant.

[Meredith Haney]

We went to dinner at break on the lake. You see Davis and Meredith, you know.

[Bud Ackerman]

Having dinner and being interrupted by Bud's attempts to reach her. What was the FaceTime conversation like?

[Meredith Haney]

Where are you? Who are you with? Why are you doing this to me?

[Bud Ackerman]

Did you tell him where you were?

[Meredith Haney]

I feel like at some point in the conversation, either he could tell where I was because of what's around me, or I finally did tell him it was one or the other.

[Bud Ackerman]

So at that point, he knows that you're out with Davis. While Meredith continued her date with Davis, security cameras catch Bud Ackerman at 10:40pm arriving at a popular Greenwood club called called Key West.

[Meredith Haney]

You can see Bud, you know, he's talking to people, interacting, consuming alcohol.

[Bud Ackerman]

The video shows Bud spent about an hour and a half at Key west, then called Meredith again. How did he sound on the phone?

[Meredith Haney]

Intoxicated.

[Bud Ackerman]

What's an intoxicated Bud sound like vulgar? Soon after midnight, Ackerman had left Key West. About a half hour later, cameras show Bud's truck so circling in front of break on the lake. But by then, Meredith and Davis were no longer at the restaurant.

[Meredith Haney]

You could see his vehicle drive through the parking lot as if he's looking for him.

[Bud Ackerman]

Lt. Womack says. Before long, investigators would learn just how far Bud Ackerman had gone that night to find Meredith and Davis. Though Ackerman himself wasn't talking, critical information would emerge from another digital witness. His truck.

[Meredith Haney]

It's a box about this big that goes into the backside of the dash.

[Bud Ackerman]

Womack says in some cars and trucks, the infotainment systems, as they're known, store detailed information about how the vehicles are being driven. We're in a similar model to Bud's Ford F250 pickup.

[Meredith Haney]

So on Bud's vehicle they were able to pull a significant amount of information. This is just a little snippet. You're talking just in a 24 hour time period. It's over 3,000 events.

[Bud Ackerman]

Events including snap measurements of speed, acceleration and brake pressure. Bud's onboard computer even pinged public wi fis it passed. Investigators learned that Bud had actually driven by Meredith's house and onto Davis McClendon street that night. But while he was driving around looking for them, ironically, they had moved to the Key West Club.

[Meredith Haney]

He had just left when Davis decides to call Bud. He walked out the back of the bar.

[Bud Ackerman]

It was 12:51am A few minutes passed.

[Meredith Haney]

And I went out there to check on him, you know, he was gone.

[Bud Ackerman]

Did he think he could bring the temperature down? Mm. Records show Davis called her minutes later. And what was that conversation?

[Meredith Haney]

Where are you? And that's when he told me that he was going to meet Bud Wom.

[Bud Ackerman]

Womack says other infotainment system data show that at a bit past one in the morning, Davis and Bud had their fatal encounter.

[Meredith Haney]

And we can tell there was actually an event at 1:11am on May 7.

[Bud Ackerman]

They say Ackerman hit the brakes hard.

[Meredith Haney]

We could narrow it down to tenths of seconds of when the collision occurred.

[Bud Ackerman]

And according to the computer, seconds after the collision, Ackerman's truck had stopped.

[Meredith Haney]

At that point in time. Bud's opening the door. He opens the door before he shifts it to.

[Bud Ackerman]

Womack thinks Ackerman got out of his truck, which was probably leaking from the collision. Remember that puddle of oil in the road near the victim?

[Meredith Haney]

Then he closes the door. Then he gets back in and then it's shifted to drive at that Point in time.

[Bud Ackerman]

Then, say authorities, Ackerman turns his truck around near the lamp post, roughly as you see in this CBS News demonstration. Based on their investigation. He then drives away leaking an oil trail all the way to his parents driveway.

[Meredith Haney]

Right here. His phone becomes unavailable, the ignition turned off, and it disconnected from his device.

[Bud Ackerman]

What does that tell you?

[Meredith Haney]

That's when he got home and got out. It started to paint a very clear picture.

[Bud Ackerman]

But Ackerman's attorney, Jack Swirling, paints a different picture.

[Meredith Haney]

I don't think he intended to run Davis McClendon over. There's no indication that he's an aggressive or violent individual. Sheriff's office. Yes, sir.

[Bud Ackerman]

Nor, says Swirling, is there much to indicate his client was drunk that night.

[Meredith Haney]

Can I get you to step with me over here for me, please?

[Bud Ackerman]

None of the cops who arrested him reported he seemed tipsy.

[Meredith Haney]

The only one that said he was intoxicated was Meredith.

[Bud Ackerman]

Was he stalking them that night?

[Meredith Haney]

I think he was trying to find out, confirm that they were together. He wanted to talk to her.

[Bud Ackerman]

According to Swirling, Meredith and Davis had betrayed McClendon's promise to Bud to stand down until the Ackermans marriage was officially over.

[Meredith Haney]

She couldn't wait another month and she's out with this guy and she's cheating on her husband. They are still legally married. South Carolina law calls that adultery.

[Bud Ackerman]

And Swirling says that the night Davis died, he let Bud Ackerman's repeated calls and text messages to Meredith get under his skin.

[Meredith Haney]

Davis got upset about it and that's what led to them having this meeting. Bud thought they were going to meet and talk.

[Bud Ackerman]

He says Bud had suggested an innocent and safe place for it to happen.

[Meredith Haney]

They were supposed to meet at Bud's parents house, which is about half a mile from that location.

[Bud Ackerman]

Swirling says Ackerman's children were sleeping there that night. So attacking Davis would have been the last thing on his client's mind.

[Meredith Haney]

You wouldn't meet at your parents house if you were angry and threatening and ready to kill somebody.

[Bud Ackerman]

He says it was Davis who selected the deserted intersection as a new location. And remember how Davis was found without his shirt on that night? Well, Swirling says he believes Davis took it off to prepare for a confrontation.

[Meredith Haney]

He was ready to fight.

[Bud Ackerman]

Swirling insists Bud Ackerman meant no harm that night. And Bud is about to tell that story to a jury.

[Meredith Haney]

Your name? William Gray Ackerman Jr. I also go by Bud. Real businesses rely on Spectrum business for the fastest, most reliable Internet, starting at $40 a month. When bundled and backed by the Spectrum commitment, get Internet speeds to fit your business needs starting at 500Mbps bundle with TV, phone and mobile. For more savings, level up your speed for a three year price guarantee. Find a bundle that is made for your [e-mail] Business restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. TaxAct knows filing taxes can be confusing. So we have live experts on hand who can help answer any questions. May have questions like can I claim my SUV is my home office? If I answer work emails in my car? If I adopted 12 dogs this year, can I list them as dependents and am I doing this right or am I doing this very, very wrong? Our experts have the answers to those questions and many others. Tax Act. Let's get them over. Good morning, everybody. We are on the record in the State vs. William Bud Ackerman.

[Bud Ackerman]

Prosecutors are determined to prove it was no accident that Bud ackerman hit Davis McClendon the night he died. So in September of 2024, Assistant Attorneys General John Conrad and John Meadows, he.

[Meredith Haney]

Intentionally drove his car into the body.

[Bud Ackerman]

Of Davis McClendon start the case off with a bang.

[Meredith Haney]

Bam. And that's what this case is about.

[Bud Ackerman]

They'll argue Ackerman couldn't stand the fact that his estranged wife was seeing someone and Bud was searching for Meredith and Davis all over town.

[Meredith Haney]

Bud Ackerman was not going to let Davis McClendon be with Meredith. That's your house right there. Yes, sir.

[Bud Ackerman]

Medders and Conrad lead with their strongest evidence. There are actually timestamped videos from the neighbors doorbell cameras at the moment of the crash that killed Davis. It shows what they say is Bud's Ford F250 driving through the frame. Seconds later on the video, what sounds like a crash. And seconds after that, a series of muffled sounds.

[Meredith Haney]

What did you hear? I heard somebody yelling. Okay.

[Bud Ackerman]

Prosecutors argue it's Bud Ackerman's voice yelling at Davis McClendon after running him down.

[Meredith Haney]

What it sounded like to me was, what do you want to talk about now? Bud yelling unheavenly. Expletives, he said to Davis as he was lying on the ground. I think he was glad he was dead.

[Bud Ackerman]

But Bud Ackerman's defense attorney, Jack Swirling, argues the audio is too garbled to prove anything.

[Meredith Haney]

I've listened to it several times now and I don't believe you could conclude 100% that exactly what he said.

[Bud Ackerman]

The prosecutor then calls Megan McGovern, the Ackerman's babysitter and friend, to describe the moment she'd seen Davis body through traumatized teenaged eyes.

[Meredith Haney]

He had blood coming out of his ears and his nose, and I couldn't. I'm not exactly sure if those come out of his mouth or not because, I mean, there's just blood everywhere from his nose and everything.

[Bud Ackerman]

But their star witness is the woman at the center of both men's affection, Meredith Haney, who testifies with the date night security videos as a guide.

[Meredith Haney]

Is that you? Yes, sir.

[Bud Ackerman]

She tells the jury Bud Ackerman called her when she and Davis were at break on the lake.

[Meredith Haney]

Did you think he was trying to find you? I did worry, yes.

[Bud Ackerman]

And kept calling after they got to Key West Club.

[Meredith Haney]

Is that a call from the defendant, Bud Ackerman? Yes, sir. Did you reject that call? Yes. Eighteen seconds later, you get another call? Yes, sir. Well, what'd you think about all these calls coming in? I was getting very frustrated and angry and just. It was getting obsessive and it was getting scary.

[Bud Ackerman]

And she says by the time Davis McClinton left her at the Key West Club after midnight.

[Meredith Haney]

And is that Davis McLendon leaving the bar? Yes.

[Bud Ackerman]

She was worried Bud might be volatile. So when Davis later called to tell her he was going to meet with Ackerman, she says she wanted check on the situation in person and makes clear to the jury that when she saw the scene, she had little doubt who killed her boyfriend.

[Meredith Haney]

I dove back into Meg's car because I thought that the only way that Bud would have ever killed somebody would have been to shoot. Objection. Don't go.

[Bud Ackerman]

The judge sustains the defense's objection, but Meredith continues.

[Meredith Haney]

I was scared that he was still out there. Okay, Mr. Swirling, any cross examination? All right. No question. Step down, ma'am. Your Honor. Stay. Called Special agent Brian Hudak.

[Bud Ackerman]

Digital forensics expert Brian Hudak tells the jury about data in the infotainment system of Ackerman's pickup, including some that show Bud was driving in exactly the right.

[Meredith Haney]

Place in Greenwood at the intersection of.

[Bud Ackerman]

Avid and Sawdress at exactly the right.

[Meredith Haney]

Time between 1:1131 and.

[Bud Ackerman]

And 1:1132 to be implicated in the deadly collision. He suggests they can even tell the moment of impact.

[Meredith Haney]

There's something that causes this truck to decelerate very quickly, correct? Correct.

[Bud Ackerman]

And Hudak says the evidence shows ackerman was going 25 miles per hour.

[Meredith Haney]

And the amount of detail that that truck had on what Bud did that night is simply breathtaking. Ford vehicles completely on the wrong side of the road when it strikes the BMW.

[Bud Ackerman]

Collision reconstruction expert Corporal Christopher Bratcher testifies. The dents show Bud's speeding pickup sideswiped Davis BMW sedan as shown in that CBS News animation. Based on the prosecution's theory, they say Bud was aiming at Davis, who was standing near the driver's door when he was hitting, and that the truck kept going with Davis on the grill until he fell off where authorities found him. But Jack Swirling argues much of the same evidence shows hitting Davis was an accident.

[Meredith Haney]

We maintain that Mr. Ackerman did not act intentionally in this case.

[Bud Ackerman]

He says Bud Ackerman had no idea Davis was standing outside his car and calls auto forensic expert Jonathan Nelson to testify that given Ackerman's speed in the dark, over a slope in the road and into the parked BMW's headlight beams, he wouldn't have seen Davis McClendon standing in the road until at most 2 1/2 seconds before the collision.

[Meredith Haney]

Or would a person have sufficient opportunity to avoid impact? I think most people would have little to no opportunity to begin to try to avoid.

[Bud Ackerman]

And Swirling says Davis wasn't standing right next to his car when he was hit, but further out towards the center of the road. And that Ackerman swerved to his left into the BMW to get around him, as shown in this CBS News animation. Based on the defenses theory, he's trying.

[Meredith Haney]

To avoid hitting him. Wouldn't you swerve the other way? Why he didn't go right? I can't answer that.

[Bud Ackerman]

Swirling knows there may be only one person who can call Bud Ackerman.

[Meredith Haney]

All right. Come around to stand, please, sir.

[Bud Ackerman]

Ackerman's attorney begins by trying to show the jury his client was Meredith's long suffering but devoted husband.

[Meredith Haney]

Did you love her? I did very much.

[Bud Ackerman]

He admits he was angry at Meredith, but says he only wanted to talk to her and agreed to meet Davis to talk to him too.

[Meredith Haney]

Do you have any intention to hurt him? I did not.

[Bud Ackerman]

Ackerman says he hadn't realized how fast he was going and that he was only trying to pull up next to Davis to talk and didn't see McClendon standing in the road until the last moment.

[Meredith Haney]

What action did you take, if any, to avoid hitting the person? I jerked my truck as hard as I could to the left to try to hit his car, to stop the motion of my truck from going forward.

[Bud Ackerman]

But on cross examination, he admits something that undercuts his claims of innocence. That night, he had never called 91 1.

[Meredith Haney]

I panicked. You panicked.

[Bud Ackerman]

Instead, he left the scene and drove to his parents house and told them what had happened. But they never called authorities either.

[Meredith Haney]

I've seen so many people react in abnormal ways in all the cases I've handled that I've come to expect those kind of things.

[Bud Ackerman]

In closings, prosecutor Meadows argues Ackerman is a murderer with a truck as his weapon.

[Meredith Haney]

This might as well be a drive by shooting with a gun.

[Bud Ackerman]

And he says the Ford pickups infotainment system proves it.

[Meredith Haney]

This is Bud's brain. This is malice. This is intent. The state has not proven that Mr. Ackerman acted with malice or with the intent.

[Bud Ackerman]

It's the highest possible bar. And the defense insists the state has not proven its case.

[Meredith Haney]

Mr. Ackerman is entitled to a verdict of not guilty. This is judgment day. It's verdict day. You never know what a jury's gonna do. You got 12 people making the decision. Have you reached a verdict in this case? This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. During tax season, your personal info travels to a lot of places, between payroll, your tax consultant, and the IRS. If your W2 gets exposed, that's just the ticket for identity thieves. That's why Lifelock monitors millions of data points every second. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Don't let identity thieves take you for a ride. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Ladies and gentlemen, it's my understanding that the jury has reached a verdict.

[Bud Ackerman]

For the Ackerman jury, six days of testimony and evidence boil down to a deliberation less than a half hour long.

[Meredith Haney]

State of South Carolina vs. William Gray Bud Ackerman.

[Bud Ackerman]

Did you have a feeling about what that verdict might be?

[Meredith Haney]

Yeah. A quick verdict like that is not good. Not good. We, the jury, unanimously find the defendant guilty.

[Bud Ackerman]

Bud Ackerman is guilty of the murder of Davis McClendon.

[Meredith Haney]

It was the right verdict. I mean, I thought it would be fast. Not that fast.

[Bud Ackerman]

Not just fast, but too fast to be thought through, says Bud Ackerman's attorney, Jack Swirling.

[Meredith Haney]

I don't think the jury considered everything that was presented to him. They didn't need a lot of time to stew over the evidence. The evidence was clear and obvious.

[Bud Ackerman]

Damning evidence of what Bud Ackerman did say Davis McClendon's friends and equally damning evidence, they say, of what Bud Ackerman never did.

[Meredith Haney]

Our friend laid there in the road.

[Bud Ackerman]

They still can't wrap their head around why nobody in the Ackerman family ever called 911.

[Meredith Haney]

Somebody should have done the right thing.

[Bud Ackerman]

At sentencing. Right after the verdict, Davis McClendon's son demands accountability from the Ackermans. It is time for this spoiler evil.

[Meredith Haney]

Individual in this spoiled, evil family in.

[Bud Ackerman]

Greenwood to finally gain some repercussions for their actions.

[Meredith Haney]

Thank you. A lot's been said about why we didn't call 91 1.

[Bud Ackerman]

But Ackerman's father tries to explain his own lack of action by saying he was too disoriented to know what to do. And at that hour of the night when his son woke him with the news. The judge's sentence is devastating to the defendant.

[Meredith Haney]

Mr. Ackman, if you please stand, sir. Sentence of court is. Mr. Ackman, you be committed to the state department corrections period of 45 years.

[Bud Ackerman]

It looks like the end of the road for Bud Ackerman.

[Meredith Haney]

I know that where he is is where he's supposed to be.

[Bud Ackerman]

But it may allow for a new beginning for Meredith Haney.

[Meredith Haney]

I was worried that if he only got five or 10 years, that I'd never get to start a new life because I'd be scared for when he got out.

[Bud Ackerman]

With their father unlikely to get out of prison for decades, she's determined to spare her children from the impact of that horrible night. As a single mom, she leans on friends and family. How are the kids doing?

[Meredith Haney]

We'll make it through.

[Bud Ackerman]

Looking back, she believes Bud Ackerman really wanted to target her that night. And that she's only alive because he found Davis McClendon first.

[Meredith Haney]

Davis saved my life.

[Bud Ackerman]

You really feel that way?

[Meredith Haney]

Absolutely.

[Bud Ackerman]

If true, Meredith Haney owes her life, however challenging, to the new man she had once hoped to share it with. How would you like Davis to be.

[Meredith Haney]

Remembered as a hero? For the way he treated people.

[Bud Ackerman]

For.

[Meredith Haney]

His empathy, for his heart? He was just a good person.

[Bud Ackerman]

Join me Tuesday for postmortem from 48 hours, where we'll dive dive even deeper into today's episode and answer your questions about the case.