DENNIS FOWLER Cherokee County ended 2008 with double the homicides but fewer roadway deaths than it had in 2007, according to a year-end report from Coroner Dennis Fowler.

Of the 167 deaths his office looked into, Fowler said rulings still are pending on five cases, including the deaths of two people whose bodies were found in the Broad River last year.

In 2008, Fowler's office was involved in six homicide probes, one of which involved a police shooting incident. They included the early January shooting death of Furman Scott Armstrong and the late January shooting death of Laticasapp Ann Scott; the September shooting death of Benjamin Eric Phillips in Blacksburg; the October shooting death of Richard Bryant in southern Cherokee County; and the November deaths of James "Cecil" Brogden and Christopher Aaron Saunders.

Saunders, 28, reportedly stole a 10-ton front-end loader from a local business on Nov. 29 and led police on a lowspeed chase on Pleasant School Road, charging at them several times.

Brogden, an innocent bystander, was killed when he stepped out of a family's member's home to investigate the commotion going on outside.

Saunders subsequently died on an operating table while being treated for the gunshots that police were forced to fire to bring the incident to an end.

The Nov. 29 incident was turned over to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for review and the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office will review the findings.

Police have filed criminal charges in the other four cases, none of which have been resolved yet in court.

Two of the five Coroner's Office investigations still awaiting resolution are the deaths of Verlishia Littlejohn, 25, and Anthony Fair, 17, both of whom were found in the Broad River near the Cherokee Falls Dam.

Littlejohn's body was found Jan. 4, 2008, several weeks after she had been reported missing.

Fowler had ruled she died of drowning but the manner of her death remains open.

Fair drowned in the river during a camping trip last May 10. His body was pulled from the river by firefighters from the CKC and DMW volunteer fire departments who responded to the scene.

Fowler declined to comment on what pieces of information he's lacking to rule on the manner of death in both cases.

"They'll remain open until I'm satisfied," he explained. "I will not hurry to make a ruling in a case, just to rule on it."

Of the other 156 cases the office responded to in 2008, 126 were ruled natural deaths, 20 were ruled accidental deaths, and 10 were deemed suicide.

The six homicides in 2008 were double the tally from 2007, when there were three. Suicide rates were steady year over year, as there were 10 suicides in 2007.

Of the 20 accidental deaths, 16 occurred as a result of traffic accidents, the last of which occurred in October when four vehicles were involved in a collision on Highway 11 a few miles north of the Gaffney city limits.

There were 18 traffic-related deaths in Cherokee County in 2007, and eight traffic deaths in 2006.

Two of the five Coroner's Office investigations still awaiting resolution are the deaths of Verlishia Littlejohn, 25, and Anthony Fair, 17, both of whom were found in the Broad River near the Cherokee Falls Dam.

Littlejohn's body was found Jan. 4, 2008, several weeks after she had been reported missing. Fowler had ruled she died of drowning but the manner of her death remains open.

Fair drowned in the river during a camping trip last May 10. His body was pulled from the river by firefighters from the CKC and DMW volunteer fire departments who responded to the scene.