By admin 
The Lexington County mother of a man shot to death in her backyard as she watched has filed a civil lawsuit against the father and son charged with murder in the killing.
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Also, a possible plea bargain for the accused father and son, Ryan Lindler Sr. and Ryan Lindler Jr., will be aired in Lexington County state court in September, says the mother’s lawyer, attorney Lori Murray.
Murray’s seven-page lawsuit, which asks for a jury trial, alleges that on Dec. 6, 2023, Kevin Newhouse “was shot four times in the back by Defendant Ryan Lindler, Jr. at the direction of Ryan Lindler, Sr.”
“This ruthless and senseless murder occurred in the presence of his mother, plaintiff Joanie Newhouse,” said the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Lexington County state court.
Kevin Newhouse, 36, was unarmed and on the ground when he was fatally shot in the back, the lawsuit alleges. The father, Ryan Lindler Sr., urged his son to shoot Kevin Newhouse, and his son did shoot, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges the civil wrong of “intentional infliction of emotional distress” by the Lindlers upon Joanie Newhouse in the shooting of her son. It seeks an unspecified amount of actual and punitive damages.
Both Lindlers were charged with murder after the killing and have been free on bond since then. They are also each charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
‘Sweetheart’ plea deal?
Attorney Murray said she filed the lawsuit after learning that the 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard had agreed to a plea deal that does away with the murder charges. Murray said she learned about the deal in a meeting with the solicitor’s office several months ago.
Hubbard declined comment Wednesday about the case, saying he doesn’t comment on pending matters.
Under the proposed plea deal, both Lindlers have been told that they will be permitted to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter at an upcoming hearing, Murray said.
“It’s a sweetheart deal,” said Murray.
Voluntary manslaughter carries a sentence of from two to 30 years.
But murder — which is what the Lindlers are now charged with — carries a sentence of from 30 years to life in prison, she said.
“Voluntary manslaughter is the plea they are being offered and the (Newhouse) family is absolutely not on board with that plea,’” Murray said, noting the evidence in the case.
“This was an execution-style killing. He was tossed face down on the ground and then shot in the back of the head. And then there were multiple shots to finish him off,” Murray said.
“This is not a whodunit — this is a we-know-who-did-it,” Murray said. “It’s all very senseless. All they (the Lindlers) had to do was just walk away or call the police.”
The plea deal hearing is slated for Friday, Sept. 18, before state Judge Debra McCaslin in the Lexington County courthouse, Murray said.
McCaslin is in the news as the new judge in the retrial of fraudster Alex Murdaugh on double-murder charges after his 2023 conviction was overturned earlier this year by the S.C. Supreme Court.
Murray said she asked solicitor Hubbard for a negotiated plea in which a minimum sentence might be 20 or 25 years in return for the plea that does away with the murder charge. But Hubbard said no, she said.
Hubbard declined comment to The State newspaper, saying it was a pending case.
In 2023, Hubbard was quoted in a State newspaper article as saying evidence in the case supported the murder charge.
“That’s what changed the whole situation … It was on Mr. Newhouse’s property and the information we presented is that when he was killed, he was not armed,” Hubbard said at the time.
Lexington sheriff’s investigates shootings
Allegations in the Newhouse lawsuit against the Lindler father and son track public statements made by Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon after the Lindlers were arrested in 2024.
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“Over the course of their investigation, which included interviews with both Lindlers and witnesses, detectives determined the elder Lindler told his son to shoot the victim,” Koon told reporters in a press release. “The shooting happened after the elder Lindler had taken a machete away from the victim, who was unarmed when he was shot and lived near the Lindlers on Seleta Circle.”
“Before the three men fought, the Lindlers prevented Newhouse from going back into his house,” Koon said in the release.
According to the Newhouse lawsuit, the disturbance began when Kevin Newhouse walked on Lindler’s property while carrying a machete. Ryan Lindler Sr. confronted him and during an altercation, took away his machete, the lawsuit alleged.
Then Lindler marched Newhouse back to his house, striking him on the back of his legs as they went, the lawsuit said. At the Newhouse’s house, Newhouse tried to go inside but Lindler would not let him, the lawsuit said.
When Joanie Newhouse ordered Lindler to leave her property, Lindler put Kevin Newhouse in a chokehold, the lawsuit said.
At some point, Ryan’s son came onto the Newhouse property. “Upon seeing his son, Defendant Lindler, Sr. threw Kevin on the ground and yelled ‘Shoot him’ to his son Defendant Lindler, Jr.,” the lawsuit said.
Lindler Sr. is represented by attorney Eric Bland, who rose to prominence in recent years speaking out on behalf of clients who were victims of disbarred lawyer Murdaugh’s financial crimes.
Asked for comment this week, Bland texted, “The entire situation is tragic for all concerned, and it is my hope that resolutions can be reached to give everybody peace going forward.”
In comments to The State in 2023 after he began to represent the Lindlers, Bland said “there was a very substantial self-defense claim here.”
Bland said that before the shooting, Kevin Newhouse was out in the neighborhood, wearing a mask, carrying a machete and walking a pit bull.
Bland said that in 2023, surveillance footage from neighbors showed that Newhouse had trespassed on other people’s property at all hours of the day and night. “This is not the first time he’s been on the (Lindlers’) property,” Bland said. “It’s a posted property meaning that there is no trespassing.”
Before the shooting, Kevin Newhouse swung his machete at the Lindlers, striking both of them, Bland told a State reporter.
The Lindlers, Bland told a reporter, grow hay and sell meat to their neighbors and are longtime Lexington County residents. They are “part of the soil of Lexington County; they’re born and bred there and they’ve lived there their entire lives,” said Bland.
At the time of the shooting, there was substantial public interest in the incident. In its 2023 story, The State noted “The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page … a post announcing the Lindlers’ arrest has gained 600 comments, with a mix of opinions about the killing and the arrests. While some commentators accused the sheriff’s department of not having the full story, others say they are glad for the arrests. But many simply expressed shock and confusion over the tragedy.
Attorney Jack Swerling, who represents Ryan Lindler Jr. with attorney Gill Bell, told The State on Thursday that “no resolution” in the Lindler case had been reached and it was inappropriate to talk about what may happen.
“These cases are very difficult,” Swerling said.
Joanie Newhouse’s lawsuit says, “The murder of Kevin Newhouse in front of the Plaintiff was so extreme and outrageous that it exceeds all possible bounds of decency and must be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.
The lawsuit adds that Joanie Newhouse “has suffered severe emotional distress, anxiety, post trauma stress disorder and depression” as a result of seeing her son shot to death.
The shooting took place in rural Lexington County about 10 miles northwest of Pelion. It is a part of the county with scattered farms, single story houses and dirt roads.
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