Insets, from left: Bornold Alastair Eberhart (Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office) and Kristen Laymon (Perimeter Church). Background: Eberhart, in red circle, lifts Laymon’s body into his trunk at a South Carolina hotel (Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office via Sun News).
A Georgia man, aged 44, has admitted to murdering his girlfriend during a vacation in South Carolina. He then transported her body from their hotel to his vehicle using a luggage cart before placing her in the trunk.
Bornold Alastair Eberhart entered a guilty plea in the killing of 53-year-old Kristen Laymon, as announced by the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office on Tuesday. Consequently, the court handed him a 30-year prison sentence.
The couple, Eberhart and Laymon, traveled from Decatur to North Myrtle Beach and checked into the Wyndham Hotel on September 22, 2023. After an evening out, they returned to the hotel just before 2 a.m. on September 23. Security footage captured a heated argument between the two as they returned, with Laymon seen opening the car door while it was still in motion.
Laymon exited the vehicle and took the elevator to their room.
“This is the last recorded sighting of Laymon alive,” stated the prosecutors.
Approximately ten minutes after her departure, Eberhart headed to their room. On September 24, surveillance footage revealed him using a luggage cart to discreetly transport what was later confirmed to be Laymon’s concealed body. He moved the body, wrapped in a sheet, to his car trunk, where forensic tests subsequently confirmed the presence of Laymon’s blood.
Eberhart tried to throw investigators off his trail by sending Laymon text messages telling her that if she did not return his vehicle he would have to find his own ride back to Georgia.
It would be another six months before authorities discovered Laymon’s body. Eberhart drove Laymon’s remains back to Decatur and disposed of the body. Georgia detectives worked with North Myrtle Beach investigators to piece together the case.
The defendant eventually admitted to killing his girlfriend and showed cops where he ditched her body. She was reportedly recovered on March 9, 2024.
“The defendant in this case went to great lengths to cover up the murder of Ms. Laymon, but Detective McCarter, the North Myrtle Beach Police Department, and various Georgia law enforcement agencies left no stone unturned,” Anthony DiChiara, an assistant solicitor, said in a statement. “We thank Law Enforcement for their relentless effort in bringing this defendant to justice.”
Laymon, who left behind a daughter, “lived a life filled with laughter, kindness and an unwavering tenacity,” her obituary said.
