65-year-old was found dead in an apartment fire. Now, SC cops investigate homicide

A 65-year-old woman found dead in an apartment fire may have been killed, officials told South Carolina news outlets.

The woman’s Charleston-area death is “being investigated as a homicide,” WCIV reported on Monday, Sept. 26.

Days earlier, the Moncks Corner Fire Department said a neighbor reported hearing a smoke alarm at an apartment complex on Sept. 22. At about 6 a.m., crews responded to a unit and put out a small fire in a bedroom, Fire Chief Robert Gass told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

But after putting out the flames, firefighters found a woman’s body in the same bedroom. At the time, Moncks Corner Police Chief David Brabham said there was an investigation into the “suspicious” death, WCBD reported.

The woman later was identified in news reports as 65-year-old Susie Kochever.

Firefighters said the woman was found dead in an apartment on Bonnoitt Street in Moncks Corner, roughly 30 miles north of Charleston. An arson team from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division was among the investigating agencies.

As of Sept. 26, officials hadn’t revealed how Kochever died or named a suspect in the case, news outlets reported.

The Moncks Corner Police Department and the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office didn’t immediately share additional details with McClatchy News on Sept. 27.

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