Ex-cop accused of killing wife in custody after 13 years on the run

SHANGHAI, CHINA (WCSC) – A former Charleston police officer accused of killing his wife has been captured in China after 13 years on the run.

A source with knowledge of the investigation says Dan Hiers is in custody in Shanghai.

Hiers reportedly was living there under the assumed name David Williams.

Goose Creek Police say Hiers shot and killed his wife in their Goose Creek home in 2005.

For 13 years, Dan Hiers’ face has been plastered on television and wanted posters. U.S. Marshals were hoping to get a hit on the accused killer, who made their top 15 Most Wanted fugitives.

In 2004, Hiers was suspended from the Charleston Police Department after the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office charged him with molesting a 10-year old girl.

He quit the force in 2005. Hiers was supposed to surrender on those charges in March of that year but failed to show up. The marshals say Hiers’ mom went to his house in Goose Creek to look for him. Police found Hiers’ wife, Ludimila, dead in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head.

Neighbors reported seeing Hiers leaving the house a few hours before her body was found.

A few days after the murder, Hiers was seen on surveillance cameras at a Colleton County convenience store withdrawing hundreds of dollars of cash from an ATM. Hiers’ case was then featured on the show “America’s Most Wanted.”

Five days later, Goose Creek Police took out an arrest warrant charging Hiers with his wife’s murder.

Over the years the marshal’s service received many tips of sightings but none panned out. On Sept. 10, Live 5 News received a Facebook message along with an article about Hiers that was dated on the same day.

In the article, a woman said she recognized her former English teacher in China from the U.S. Marshal’s Most Wanted list. There is a photo of Hiers in the article.

She said there was a particularly popular foreign English teacher, “well-liked by women because he was tall and handsome.” She said the teacher had a “messy private life” and left quite an impression on her because he once tried to pursue one of her friends.

We reached out to several police agencies to verify Hiers is custody in China.

A spokesman for the marshal’s service told us they are aware of the information and that they are “fully engaged with our international partners on this matter.”

Goose Creek Assistant Chief of Police John Grainger said that agency is “aware of unconfirmed reports” that Hiers is in custody overseas.

Scott Hiers, the brother of Daniel Hiers, said the family has no comment.

There is no word how long it will take to extradite Hiers back to South Carolina to stand trial for his wife’s murder.