Columbia, SC: Domestic Dispute Turns Deadly

By Jerrita Patterson
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 1:30 a.m.

Investigators say around 11:00 pm on Saturday, a man gunned down his girlfriend. But that wasn't the end of this cold-blooded crime.

By Sunday, Lexington County deputies uncovered more than they bargained for during a routine traffic stop.

"The vehicle sped off. We ended up at the zoo in Columbia where the individual got out of the truck went down to the river," said Lexington County Sheriff James Metts. "(He) yelled at the officers he couldn't live with himself with what he had done."

The man Sheriff Metts is talking about is 32-year-old Jason Wayne Strickland. And what he had done--according to investigators--was killed his girlfriend Lisa Bacon, in a bit of rage. The murder happened inside a home on Hayride Road.

"We believe he killed his live-in girlfriend at the home, put her in the truck and put the spare tire on top of her body to keep her from rolling around in the back of the truck," said Metts.

When Lexington County officers finally caught up with Strickland in Columbia, things took another deadly turn.

"They tried to get him to stop but he kept walking," said Metts. "And he went into the river and put the gun on himself and killed himself. It happened in just seconds."

In just a short amount of time the lives of several families have been turned upside down.

"We are talking with people in the community to see if we can find out what might have happened," said Metts. "And trying to learn something about these two individuals."

Sheriff Metts calls it a ruthless crime that has rattled a community.

Lexington County will oversee the murder, since it happened within county lines; and Columbia Police will investigate the suicide.