A jealous husband who fatally struck his estranged wife’s new boyfriend with a car in South Carolina last year was sentenced to 45 years behind bars for the killing.
William ‘Bud’ Ackerman Jr., 43, of Greenwood, South Carolina, was sentenced by a judge Saturday for the murder of Kenneth Davis McClendon, 46, after the jury deliberated for only 22 minutes, the Greenwood Index-Journal reported.
Ackerman mowed down McClendon with his Ford F-150 truck in the early-morning hours of May 7, 2023.
His soon-to-be ex-wife and their nanny found the victim’s bloodied body, describing the chilling discovery in court testimony.
At the time of the killing, Ackerman was weeks away from finalizing his divorce with wife Meredith Haynie, who had been dating McClendon, the Index-Journal reported.
Ackerman looked crestfallen and his head dropped as the jury read out the guilty verdict.
William ‘Bud’ Ackerman Jr., 43, of Greenwood, S.C. was sentenced by a judge Saturday for the murder of Kenneth Davis McClendon, 46, after the jury deliberated for only 22 minutes. Ackerman looked crestfallen and his head dropped as the jury read out the guilty verdict
At the time of the killing, Ackerman weeks away from finalizing his divorce with wife Meredith Haynie
McClendon was found outside of his vehicle around 1:30am with one shoe on and no shirt after he got into an altercation with Ackerman before he was struck, according to Court TV.
Police found Ackerman at his parents’ home around a half mile from the crash site and his truck had a dent in the hood and appeared to have a palm print on it, according to Court TV.
McClendon’s blood was also found on the leg of Ackerman’s shorts.
McClendon had called Ackerman three times before the incident, according to Court TV.
Haynie testified on the stand that she and her husband dated for six years, followed by 10 years of marriage and the birth of their three children, who are now seven, nine, and 11.
Photos on Facebook show the well-dressed couple and their children smiling brightly in family portraits.
The couple separated in May 2022.
The mother said she met McClendon in December of that year and that her and Ackerman ‘absolutely [did] not’ separate over McClendon.
Haynie said Ackerman, who worked in a repair shop, found out about her relationship in April 2023. She confirmed the relationship to her husband, who said that he was ‘very mad’ via text messages, she testified.
Ackerman sent a text message to a friend in April 2023 stating: ‘He’s been f**king Meredith.’
Ackerman mowed down McClendon with his Ford F-150 truck in the early-morning hours of May 7, 2023
Ackerman said that he knew McClendon (pictured) his ‘whole life’ and that he was hurt by the relationship
The friend replied: ‘That’s news to me, I don’t keep up with anyone’s business.’
Ackerman said that he knew McClendon his ‘whole life’ and that he was hurt by the relationship, according to evidence shown in court.
During the night of the incident, Ackerman repeatedly called Haynie, she said.
Ackerman was mad his wife, who was legally separated from him, that she wouldn’t get back together with him.
Haynie and McClendon had gone on a date and attended a Kentucky Derby party prior to the killing, she told the court.
Haynie had called her husband while at the party after finding out he was looking for them and was ‘acting crazy’ at a bar.
Shortly after midnight, he called Haynie multiple times and she did not answer.
She and McClendon, who was a marketing counselor, eventually went to the same bar as Ackerman, who had already left.
At 12:38am, she picked up Ackerman’s phone call, during which he said he was driving around trying to find them. Haynie told him she would call the police, but she did not after McClendon asked her not too, she said.
She called multiple friends and family members, including his mother, who did not answer.
Haynie (pictured in court) threatened to call the police on Ackerman, who she had been married to for 10 years, after he was driving around looking for her
Ackerman continued to call her, to the point that it was ‘getting scary,’ she said.
McClendon eventually left the bar, and shortly thereafter he was killed by Ackerman.
Ackerman’s nanny, Megan McGovern, found McClendon’s body, saying he had ‘blood coming out of his ears and his nose.’
‘His whole face was covered in blood,’ she told the court.
McGovern was with Haynie when they found his car and body.
McClendon’s family spoke before the sentencing, with his dad, James McClendon, saying: ‘We want to tell the other family that we have both lost a great amount, and six children lost their daddy, and I am sorry for them as much as I was.’
The victim’s mother, Carie McClendon, recalled how Ackerman showed ‘no remorse’ while testifying.
‘I’m convinced the jury got it right,’ she said.
McClendon’s brother, James McClendon Jr., offered similar statements, saying: ‘Mr. Ackerman has never shown or expressed an ounce of remorse for his heinous acts. From the moment he left the mangled body of my brother, lying on the side of the road to die alone, to this day, we have never heard a simple sorry or seen sympathy in his eyes.’
Haynie has three children with Ackerman
McClendon’s sister, Elizabeth Mitchell, spoke about the impact her brother’s death had on her and asked the court to ‘give us the justice that my brother’s beautiful life deserves.’
McClendon’s teenage daughter, Blair, gave an emotional victim impact statement that overwhelmed her to the point where her mother had to finish her statement.
Ackerman’s father, Dr. William ‘Gray’ Ackerman, spoke on behalf of his son, reiterated that his so was a hard worker, but did not offer the victim’s family an apology, according to Court TV.
Ackerman will be transferred to Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, according to Court TV. He will also be moved from a single cell to general population while he awaits that transfer.
