Investigators said the murder took place last Wednesday and that the suspect in the case went to police Sunday night.
"It's not often someone approaches police and says they've committed a crime," Capt. Frank Reynolds of the Pickens County Sheriff's Office told Fox 5.
Police said the victim was killed last Wednesday and hidden in a ditch off Joeboy Road. Police said the victim was covered with dirt.
Fifty-one-year-old Wilburn Childers is now charged with killing his second cousin.
"He said he hadn't slept since, he said he couldn't sleep," said Childers' brother, Phillip.
Philip Childers is related to both the suspect and the victim and he said his brother turned himself in because of a guilty conscience. Childers said he believed his brother acted in self-defense.
"He'd already beat him twice and he said he was coming back for him a third time. My brother says he tried to keep him from beating on him," said Childers.
Investigators said Wilburn Childers spent a good deal of time trying to clean up and conceal the crime. Investigators said he hid the victim's body right in front of his residence in a shallow grave.
"He said he panicked and drug him down in that ditch. He told me he had to he was afraid he was going to kill him," said Philip Childers.
Investigators said they were looking into the possibility of self defense and that the suspect did have injuries. However, police said it appeared that the victim was killed just outside of the Childers' home with a gunshot.
"At this point he is being charged with murder, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence," said Capt. Reynolds.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/11/224790