Second defamation suit filed over allegations of elder abuse in Aiken

Jun. 23—Former South Carolina House of Representatives candidate and Aiken businessman Cody Anderson has filed suit against the two people that sued him over the estate of an Aiken woman earlier this year.

John Harte, Anderson's attorney, filed a complaint Tuesday evening in the Aiken County Court of Common Pleas alleging Wanda Scott and Ray Massey had defamed Anderson, that their suit against Anderson was frivolous, and that they abused the process of the legal system when they filed the suit.

Harte declined comment on the suit. He said he felt the suit spoke for itself.

Billy Newsome, the attorney for Scott and Massey, said not only was the initial lawsuit not frivolous but it resulted in "Cody Anderson's sham will" being thrown out.

"With over 70 years combined practice in accounting and law respectively, Wanda Scott and Ray Massey are experienced professionals who sought only to protect Margaret Crandall and her estate, not 'destroy' Cody Anderson or anyone else," Newsome continued. "There has been no defamation, this lawsuit is a ridiculous attempt to deflect from the truth, and we look forward to sharing the facts through the legal process — again."

Estate lawsuit

The suit filed Tuesday has its origins in the legal battle between Anderson, the owner of George Funeral Home, and Scott and Massey over the $8M+ estate of Mary Margaret Wenzel Crandall.

Crandall died in early January. Scott, her accountant, and Massey, her lawyer, filed paperwork in late January arguing that the court should use a will signed in 2001 to distribute Crandall's assets. In that will, Scott and Massey were named as the people responsible for distributing Crandall's assets.

Anderson filed paperwork on Feb. 17 and March 1 arguing that the court should use a will signed by Crandall in 2020 to distribute Crandall's assets. In that will, Anderson was named the person who distributed Crandall's assets.

Eventually, the case moved from the Aiken County Probate Court to the Aiken County Court of Common Pleas. And on March 17, Scott and Massey argued that Anderson had used undue influence to convince Crandall, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, to sign the 2020 will.

Harte issued a statement shortly after the Aiken Standard published a story on the allegations of elder abuse in which he said Anderson would concede that the 2020 will didn't meet the requirements of South Carolina law.

Judge Courtney Clyburn Pope ruled on April 21 that the 2020 will was invalid because it didn't meet the witness requirements in South Carolina Probate Code.

Clyburn Pope then dismissed with prejudice — Anderson can't bring them again — the arguments Anderson made that the 2020 will should be used.

Scott and Massey then agreed to dismiss their claims of action against Anderson. Anderson and the funeral home agreed to dismiss their claims of action against Scott and Massey. Both of these dismissals were made without prejudice and can be brought again.

Clyburn Pope then ordered the case returned to probate court to use the 2001 will to distribute Crandall's assets.

New lawsuit

In the suit filed Tuesday, June 21, Anderson claims that Massey and Scott's allegations of elder abuse and undue influence were made without evidence and with no investigation.

"The defendants were motivated by ill will and intended as they subsequently declared to destroy the plaintiff personally and professionally," Anderson says according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. "The personal vendetta pursued by the defendants [Scott and Massey] was without just cause and was motivated to protect their own self-interest which they had gained by inducing Margaret Crandall to name them as personal representatives."

Anderson alleges that Scott and Massey wanted to draw attention away from their neglect of Crandall during the last few years of her life and that Scott and Massey used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to avoid working with Crandall to change her will.

Anderson also alleges Scott and Massey have engaged in a campaign of slander against him after the suit was dismissed. He says Scott and Massey have accused him of criminal activity, threatened to sue him when they know the suit would have no merit, and have openly said they want to destroy him personally and professionally.

The suit says damages to Anderson exceed $10 million. It asks the court for actual and punitive damages as the court sees fit.

Additional lawsuit

After the case about the wills was sent back to probate court, Anderson filed a defamation suit against Ed Hatcher, owner of Hatcher Funeral Home and Cremation Service, on April 5 over comments Hatcher made on Facebook regarding the allegations of elder abuse.

Anderson's lawsuit alleges Hatcher made defamatory comments about Anderson "with the intent of advancing the interests of Hatcher Funeral Home," according to the document.

The lawsuit also alleges Hatcher has a large social media following and "encouraged others in the community to defame and slander the Plaintiffs," according to the document.

Damages listed in the lawsuit include "public humiliation, mental anguish, pain and suffering, damage to (Anderson's) reputation in the community, loss of income, and loss of future earnings," according to the document. "The damages will continue into the future and will cause the Plaintiff substantial actual financial injury and damage as well as mental anguish and will cause his reputation to suffer for decades despite the fact that there is no truth to the statements made by the Defendant."

Hatcher has subsequently denied the allegations made by Anderson.