Linkous Pleads Guilty Sentenced in Death of Martin

Horry County, SC-  A Blue Rock man was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the death of his former girlfriend while on a graduation trip in South Carolina.

WMBF is reporting that 20-year-old Blake Linkous plead guilty Monday to one count of murder in the death of 18-year-old Natalie Martin.

Authorities said Linkous strangled Martin in June 2023 at a hotel room on Maison Drive.

The prosecution said Martin broke up with Linkous two weeks before the trip and that Linkous got angry when Martin texted another boy who lived in Myrtle Beach.

The group of students Martin and Linkous were with went to an event on June 6, 2023. Martin, Linkous and one other person went back to the condo they were all staying at. As the group started coming back, Linkous told the group that he didn’t want to live without Martin and had tried to take his own life.

The group came back to the condo and found Martin dead on the floor, according to the prosecution.