“JOHN DOE” AND “JANE DOE” BEGIN ACRIMONIOUS LEGAL BATTLE OVER THE FUTURE OF THE FAMILY, COMPANY THEY BUILT TOGETHER
Listed on the docket as John Doe and Jane Doe, South Carolina politico John McGill and his estranged wife Jenny McGill appeared in a Richland County, S.C. court opposite one another for the first time on Thursday morning.
The proceedings were closed to the public, however this news site was able to obtain one unauthorized image from inside the sealed courtroom.
John McGill, 38, is the son of former lieutenant governor Yancey McGill – one of five candidates for governor of South Carolina. Jenny McGill, 33, is a business consultant who manages many of the contracts for her husband’s clients.
According to our sources, their contentious family court hearing – which lasted around forty-five minutes – dealt extensively with disputes over taxpayer-funded contracts held by the couple’s joint business incorporations.
We’ve touched briefly on these contracts in our prior treatment of this made-for-television saga, which continues to unfold behind a judge’s seal in the S.C. fifth circuit court system. We’ve attempted to gain access to the case files in question, but so far have unsuccessful in our efforts.
For those of you who missed our original installment (and subsequent posts) related to this ongoing Shakespearean drama, it began with a bang.
Several bangs, actually …
Shortly before 4:00 a.m. EST on January 27, officers of the Columbia, S.C. police department were dispatched to the McGills’ home in the upscale King’s Grant neighborhood in response to reports of “a possible home invasion” called in by John McGill. Upon investigating the scene, however, they discovered “no signs of suspicious, criminal activity or forced entry,” according to a police incident report obtained by this news site.
Sixteen hours later, though, officers were back at the same residence responding to another call from McGill about an alleged home invasion.
This time, McGill repeatedly discharged a firearm at the imagined intruders.
Through labored breaths, McGill told a dispatch operator he had barricaded himself inside a pantry in his “man cave” and “unloaded” his weapon on the phantom assailants.
“They got close and I just unloaded,” McGill told the dispatcher, adding “I’ve got 24 magazines to go.”
Damn …
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Thankfully, Jenny McGill and the couple’s three young children were not in the home at the time of the shooting.
John McGill claimed he was under the influence of cocaine laced with methamphetamines during the two incidents. In fact, reportedly contained within the sealed court files is a document referencing the drugs he took as having been a “gift” from Alexia Cortez, a Columbia, S.C.-based political operative who until last month was a contract employee of both McGill’s consulting firm and Yancey McGill’s gubernatorial campaign.
Cortez – who resigned from both of those posts on April 26 – has denied these reports, however. She has also retained state senator Tom Davis to represent her in connection with this matter.
Davis has made no public comment on Cortez’s behalf since he began representing her.
As of this writing, the McGills’ legal drama has played out exclusively under seal and behind closed doors. As we noted in the lede to this article, the name “McGill” never appeared on the public docket for the fifth circuit court hearing held this week in Columbia.
It was all “Doe vs. Doe.”
Take a look …
(Click to view)
(Via: Provided)
Mrs. Doe – looking tanned and rested – wore an elegant, formfitting black dress with black, red-soled Christian Louboutin shoes to the hearing. Mr. Doe – who also looked no worse for the wear – was decked out in a dapper dark blue suit with brown loafers.
Against the drab backgrounds of the Midlands, S.C. court system, the sparring spouses looked like they were already starring in a hit reality television show … although we’re not sure whether that sort of outcome is on the table in this case.
As we recently described them, the McGills were “a husband-and-wife duo that, by all appearances, had the world on a string.”
“The pair enjoyed a happy marriage,” we wrote. “They were raising three gorgeous children. They resided in a lovely home in an upscale gated community. They were building a wildly successful business together.”
Now it’s all imploding …
Given that tax dollars are intimately involved in this ongoing drama, we will continue to push for full transparency related to these public records.
Also, we have several questions regarding the Columbia police department’s handling of John McGill – although we do give the department’s officers credit for their initial emergency response to his 9-1-1- calls. Their actions kept Jenny McGill and her family members safe in what could have been an exceedingly dangerous situation.
Stay tuned …
There are numerous lingering questions that need to be answered related to this ongoing drama … and multiple perspectives related to its unfolding that need to be told. We look forward to giving everyone involved their say and following the facts where they lead us.
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