Longtime partner of murdered Hilton Head woman Brenda Carman dies by suicide
Police named Brenda Carman’s longtime boyfriend as the sole suspect in her murder after he died by suicide Thursday at their home in a Hilton Head gated community, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Police were called to the home in Indigo Run around 2:30 p.m. by a family member of Michael Wilson, 66, of Hilton Head, said Maj. Angela Viens, a sheriff’s office spokesperson. Emergency responders could not revive Wilson, who later died. Wilson died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Viens said.
Wilson had not yet publicly been named a suspect in Carman’s murder, but police said they had been working toward his arrest.
Carman, 61, was reported missing by her brother on Aug. 22 after family and friends noticed they could not get in touch with her.
Carman’s friends and family told police they had last seen her on Aug. 9, the same day Carman was seen leaving her attorney’s office where she was discussing leaving Wilson, police said. Even though they were not married, Wilson and Carman were together for about 20 years, police have said.
Wilson had never reported Carman missing. Her car was found on Sept. 9 in the parking lot of a Hilton Head Walmart. She worked in the deli section of a Publix supermarket on the south end of the island.
On Nov. 14, police found skeletal remains at the Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve in Bluffton. Two days later, those remains were identified through dental records as belonging to Carman.
No suicide note or confession was found as of 5:11 p.m., Viens said.
The investigation into both Carman’s death and Wilson’s suicide is ongoing.
The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette do not typically write about suicides or suicide attempts unless there is a compelling reason to do so, such as occurring in a public setting or involving a newsworthy subject.
