SC

Lexington Coroner: Still Laid Up

Way back in February we reported on a single car accident involving Lexington County, S.C. coroner Harry Harman. The 78-year-old – first elected in 1976 – suffered serious injuries as a result of this wreck. How serious? Well, FITS has confirmed that Harman remains hospitalized at Lexington Medical Center more…

Way back in February we reported on a single car accident involving Lexington County, S.C. coroner Harry Harman.

The 78-year-old – first elected in 1976 – suffered serious injuries as a result of this wreck.

How serious? Well, FITS has confirmed that Harman remains hospitalized at Lexington Medical Center more than eight months after this accident occurred. And is being fed through a tube.

And sources at the hospital tell FITS he’s not leaving … ever.

“After receiving initial treatment he was transferred to extended care,” our source says. “And that’s where he’s going to die.”

As we noted at the time, Harman is one of several county officials rumored to be involved in the “Lexington Ring,” a cabal of crooked cops and corrupt politicians allegedly running an illegal video poker operation (and various other shady endeavors) out of their government offices.

He’s the one who knows “where the bodies are buried.” Literally. In fact Harman has been accused of failing to conduct an autopsy in the suspicious death of a local solicitor’s wife – a flagrant violation of state law.

Harman is also the co-owner of a funeral home in Lexington County – a glaring conflict of interest for a coroner.

Anyway … in the event a local official is incapacitated, it is up to the governor to declare the office vacant and appoint a successor.

That hasn’t happened here. In fact Harman’s deputy – Randy Martin – has been running the office in his absence.

Meanwhile Lexington County taxpayers are continuing to pay Harman’s salary even though he is clearly never coming back to work again.

Hmmmm …

“The Lexington Ring is alive and well,” one source familiar with the situation tells FITS. “He is just going to lay there forever while the taxpayers of Lexington pay him.”

Unless S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley takes action …

Section 17-5-50 of the S.C. Code of Laws permits the governor to declare this office vacant in the event its duly elected occupant is unable to perform his or her duties (which is clearly the case in this situation). Haley would then have the right to name an interim appointment pending the results of a special election to fill the seat.

Frankly, we think it’s about time she took these steps …

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23 comments

Jesus saves November 5, 2013 at 10:21 am

Maybe someone can get a deathbed confession out of him before his gets a good ass kicking from God.

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Observant November 5, 2013 at 10:48 am

“Harman is also the co-owner of a funeral home in Lexington County – a glaring conflict of interest for a coroner.”

No more conflict of interest than that of the late former coroner of Spartanburg County (George Adams) running a retail gun shop within a block of the court house.

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nitrat November 6, 2013 at 9:01 am

Is there a coroner in this state who is NOT a funeral home operator?

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Town Crier November 6, 2013 at 11:41 am

Decades ago, some funeral homes also owned and operated the ambulance service. #tripleplay

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scotty November 5, 2013 at 11:05 am

Sounds like Harry is circling the drain maybe the Lexington gang needs to speed up the circling before he feels like confessing.

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Jackie Chiles November 5, 2013 at 12:13 pm

We should privatize the coroner’s office. Let his salary be paid for with advertisements placed on the coroner’s reports or on the corner’s van when responding to deaths. “This death certificate brought to you by Billy Bob’s Funeral Home.” Whatever happened to cutting government spending?

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? November 5, 2013 at 2:15 pm

“We should privatize the coroner’s office.”

Yes!

“Whatever happened to cutting government spending?”

There’s the mystical book out there, it’s called “Core functions of government.”

It’s being written by Will, with an unknown publishing date.

It will explain which functions are “core” and which are not. It will be presented as fact, though no one will accuse it to sticking steadfastly to any particular principle, so Will won’t be called an “ideologue”.

Once more compromises are made in the name of being “reasonable”, based on the magical/mystical book, everyone will be happy in the land of unicorns and fairies; Will will then be recognized as an acclaimed author on government structure.

Then he will be invited(and paid) to the Goldilocks government tour where he will engage is tedious debates with Paul Krugman, Newt Gingrich, & Billary Clinton on how much government control is “just right” for maximum happiness.

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nitrat November 6, 2013 at 9:01 am

magical…mystical…or, mythical?

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Randy November 5, 2013 at 3:03 pm

And all the good ole boys got up-in-arms last year when his opponent for coroner suggested Harry wasn’t fit for office. What a bunch of dumbasses in Lexington.

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CorruptionInColumbia November 5, 2013 at 5:22 pm

Hey guys! I just found this on WIS-TV’s site. How was Mr Harman able to comment about this case from his deathbed???????

http://lexington.wistv.com/news/news/80443-boy-dies-when-hit-semi-truck-home

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L I'll Be November 5, 2013 at 5:25 pm

I was just gonna post and ask same question………………………..kinda strange!

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L I'll Be November 5, 2013 at 5:26 pm Reply
CorruptionInColumbia November 5, 2013 at 5:31 pm

W T F?????

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Squishy123 November 5, 2013 at 7:13 pm

Looks to me he’s commenting on every case.

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nitrat November 6, 2013 at 9:00 am

WIS story “Submitted by Renee Standera”.
Is it possible she doesn’t know who she’s talking to?

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CorruptionInColumbia November 6, 2013 at 10:59 am

That was one of the theories that crossed my mind, nitrat. Then I saw the link provided by L I’ll Be above, and the same type verbiage is on the Coroner’s Office website regarding multiple incidents.

Strange.

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Concerned Citizen November 5, 2013 at 9:16 pm

I have several observations to make about your “news” article.
1. “[R]emains hospitalized at Lexington Medical Center” is inconsistent with “transferred to extended care;” LMC is a hospital while LEC is a rehabilitation facility.
2. And let’s be clear: Are your sources for Coroner Harman’s imminent death at “the hospital” or LEC?
3. One more clarifying question: Do you have “sources” or a “source”? Again your “reporting” is inconsistent.
4. While alleging that Coroner Harman is “rumored to be involved” in “shady endeavors” allows you to cast doubt on his character without providing proof, it is a defamation of character you may be called on to verify.
5. The later quotation in your “news” article more specifically accuses Coroner Harman of being part of the “Lexington Ring” and presents more serious slander. You, however, are responsible for printing this slander.
6. The use of “lay” in that quotation is grammatically incorrect.
7. Considering the misleading nature of your article, I wonder about your motivation for writing it. Even for an organization which claims to be “unfair” and “imbalanced,” this article is questionable.

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Town Crier November 6, 2013 at 12:02 pm

Having “rehab” in the title doesn’t mean the facility is a rehab center. A large percentage of the facilities classified as nursing homes by DHEC have “rehab” in their name, as all offer some sort of rehab services to short-term or long-term patients. Lexington Medical Center Extended Care (LMCEC) is classified as a nursing home. Nearly all nursing home patients are admitted as a “rehab” until the Medicare days are used up, if Medicare eligible as Harman would be. Then a patient is reassessed, their status changed to long term (if they aren’t discharged), and the payment source changed to either private pay (private funds or long term care insurance) or Medicaid. That’s the short version.

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Louie November 6, 2013 at 8:28 am

Harry is a crook, no doubt. Jakie Knotts and Jean Toal have his back.

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Mamma Tried November 6, 2013 at 9:40 am

As a former deputy coroner from a different county in SC:

In the beginning, a lot of coroners were the local undertaker. That will explain why Harry is associated with the funeral home. Lots of counties still have coroners associated with the local funeral home. Coroner was a very low paying, part time job.

Times have changed. There is no real conflict here.

Since Michael Jordan’s dad was murdered and his body was found in SC, the state strengthened the office holding requirements.

Harry is a nice man but obviously is no longer effective. It’s time he stepped down.

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Sheriff James Best November 6, 2013 at 4:35 pm

His is not a low paying job- or at least 75K a year isn’t low paying to me

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Sheriff James Best November 6, 2013 at 4:37 pm

He doesn’t own the funeral home, they sold it years ago to SCI. Look it up, Will you are a crappy reporter

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fatalbert2013 November 7, 2013 at 5:05 am

Why do we even need coroners?

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