Simpsonville, SC: 'Nice couple' die in murder-suicide in gated complex in Simpsonville

By Nathaniel Cary
Staff Writer

Two stabbing deaths that authorities say were a murder-suicide at a gated Simpsonville apartment complex shocked neighbors who often saw the couple outside their apartment.

Simpsonville police responded to a 911 call from an apartment at 15206 Hollyhock Drive inside the Garden District Apartments at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday after a man said his girlfriend had been stabbed and “was not moving,” authorities said.

They found 23-year-old Rachel Sara Fielding, who lived at the address, dead in a bedroom, said Greenville County Deputy Coroner Kent Dill. She died from at least six stab wounds to the chest, Simpsonville Police Lt. Ralph Bobo said.

Christopher J. Villafane, 39, who shared the apartment with Fielding, also had been stabbed multiple times by a kitchen knife, Bobo said. The two had been engaged, Bobo said.

Villafane was flown by helicopter to Greenville Memorial Hospital where he died at 9:26 p.m., Dill said.

James Anderson used to see the couple when he walked his dog around the apartment complex. He said he would wave to them and they had a dog that they would walk outside as well.

“No one expects something like that to happen here because everybody gets along with everybody,” Anderson said.

“I’ve seen these people before and they seem like nice people. They seemed like they got along, and I’d always see them outside and they were never fighting or arguing. For that to happen all of a sudden was a shock to everybody.”

Police said a dispute may have triggered the stabbings. Fielding died between mid-morning and noon Wednesday, Dill said. Villafane stabbed himself later in the afternoon and made the call to 911, Bobo said.

Police forced entry into the apartment and found Villafane in the bathroom with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds, Bobo said.

The couple had lived in the Orlando, Fla., area and moved to Simpsonville in June to be near Fielding’s mother, Bobo said. Fielding worked at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Dill said. Villafane also worked in the restaurant industry, Bobo said.

Resident Andre Hernandez called it an unfortunate incident and hoped it was a one-time occurrence at the quiet apartment complex.

“It could happen anywhere,” he said. “I still feel safe here because we’ve never had any issues before.”