More details on former North Charleston mayor's suicide: Private investigator speaks out

A stakeout gone terribly wrong, that's what attorney Mark Peper described the night former North Charleston Mayor Bobby Kinard killed himself, after allegedly shooting a man in bed with his wife.

At a press conference Saturday, Peper said Kinard hired his client, private detective Tommy Blackwood, about three weeks ago to find out if Kinard's estranged wife Susan was cheating on him. Peper said Blackwood and Mr. Kinard were very good friends and had known each other for years.

Here's a timeline of events that Peper released to News 2:

By way of review, on or about June 1, 2010, Mr. Kinard enters into a written contract with Blackwood Investigations, LLC for purposes of initiating surveillance on his wife, as he believes she is committing adultery with an unknown male.

Thursday June 17, 2010:

6:45pm: Mr. Kinard informs Mr. Blackwood that Susan has called and will be bringing their daughter to his house for the night. Given the fact that the daughter normally stays with Susan most weeknights, Mr. Kinard is suspicious and requests that Mr. Blackwood investigate her whereabouts.

7:30pm: Mr. Kinard informs Mr. Blackwood that their daughter has been dropped off and Susan is presumably heading to her apartment.

7:50pm: Mr. Blackwood arrives at the apartment complex and sets up his surveillance. Susan’s car and the paramour’s vehicle are already parked outside her apartment.

8:20pm: Mr. Kinard sends a text message to Mr. Blackwood inquiring as to whether both parties’ vehicles are there, and Mr. Blackwood confirms.

8:45pm: Mr. Blackwood calls Mr. Kinard to inform him that it appears the paramour is there to spend the night. He tells Mr. Kinard that he is going to position his surveillance camera and return the next morning to film them exiting the apartment.

8:49pm: Mr. Kinard contacts Mr. Blackwood and is adamant that he remain on the scene so to catch them in the act. He specifically states that he wants a video or picture of them.

10:20pm: Mr. Blackwood sends a text message to Mr. Kinard informing him that the lights have been turned off and it appears that the parties have gone to bed.

10:26pm: Mr. Kinard contacts Mr. Blackwood informing him that he is on the way. Mr. Blackwood implores Mr. Kinard not to come.

10:49pm: MPPD responds to the scene to investigate a noise complaint. They leave at 10:53pm.

11:21pm: Mr. Kinard calls Mr. Blackwood and tells him that he is leaving his house at Isle of Palms, and requests that Mr. Blackwood leave immediately. Mr. Blackwood again implores him not to come and decides to stay in order to reiterate his position in person to Mr. Kinard.

11:40pm: Mr. Kinard arrives at the apartment complex. Mr. Blackwood approaches Mr. Kinard and again requests that he return home. Mr. Kinard is adamant that he wants his wife and the paramour caught in the act, so he asks Mr. Blackwood to videotape the entrance to the apartment.

Mr. Kinard decides that he is going to call his wife to alert her that their daughter is ill, in an effort to “flush” the parties out of the apartment together so Mr. Blackwood can videotape their exit together.

Out of caution, he asks Mr. Kinard to confirm that he is not carrying any weapons. Mr. Kinard adamantly denies possession of any weapon and allows Mr. Blackwood to frisk him to confirm the absence of any weapon.

Mr. Blackwood positions himself with his handheld video camera at the top of the flight of stairs, looking down on the first floor apartment door. Mr. Kinard walks to the front of the breezeway and turns the corner, presumably to place the phone call to his wife. Mr. Kinard re-enters the breezeway and informs Mr. Blackwood that she won’t answer his call and notifies him that he is entering the apartment with the extra key in his possession.

Mr. Blackwood comes down the stairway and stands just outside the apartment door as Mr. Kinard enters. Upon entering, Mr. Kinard leaves the door open and calmly walks down the hallway and into the first bedroom on the right. Immediately upon entering the bedroom, Mr. Blackwood hears two gunshots and retreats to the parking lot to take cover, under the guise that the paramour has opened fire on Mr. Kinard.

Upon hearing Susan screaming at Bobby to put the gun down, Mr. Blackwood re-enters the breezeway and sees Susan pushing Mr. Kinard backwards out of the entrance to the apartment. Mr. Blackwood sees Mr. Kinard holding a 357 Magnum Revolver cocked and loaded, and immediately asks Mr. Kinard to drop his weapon. Mr. Kinard refuses to do so and instructs Mr. Blackwood to leave immediately.

Mr. Blackwood, out of concern for his own safety, runs to his car and immediately calls MPPD to report the shooting. He witnesses Mr. Kinard get into his vehicle and leave the scene. As Mr. Kinard leaves the scene, he sees Mr. Blackwood on his cell phone and attempts to flag him down. Mr. Blackwood declines to pull over and sees Mr. Kinard do a U-Turn in his rear view mirror and head back towards the apartment complex.

Mr. Blackwood remains on the phone with MPPD and agrees to return to the apartment complex once they have Mr. Kinard in custody and the scene secured. Upon receiving confirmation, Mr. Blackwood returns to the apartment complex to meet with MPPD and then accompanies them to the police department to give a written statement. He turns over the video camera to MPPD and cooperates fully with their investigation.

At the press conference, Peper said that at no time did Mr. Blackwood feel that any party was in imminent danger, especially, after he confirmed that Mr. Kinard did not possess a weapon.

Peper said Mr. Blackwood has cooperated fully with MPPD in their investigation, and will continue to do so.