Jealous stalker William ‘Bud’ Ackerman said it was an accident, but his vehicle proved it wasn’t after horrifying clues revealed exactly what happened on that fateful night
After 10 years, Meredith Haynie’s marriage was over. She had three children under the age of 11 with her husband William ‘Bud’ Ackerman, who was the owner of a garage in their hometown of Greenwood, South Carolina, but in spring 2022, the couple went their separate ways. Meredith had noticed a change in Ackerman’s temperament. He’d grown short-tempered and was allegedly drinking more.
Meredith filed for divorce and they made custody arrangements. Ackerman moved in with his parents and appeared to be sorting himself out. He was drinking less and attending church with the children.
In December 2022, Meredith, 39, was on a night out when a man came over and introduced himself. Kenneth ‘Davis’ McClendon, 46, worked in marketing at a retirement home and was a divorced dad, with six children in his blended family. Meredith wasn’t looking for a relationship but they both knew they’d found something special and started seeing each other. Davis had a huge heart and was instantly friends with anyone he met. He didn’t have an enemy in the world – until now.
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The couple dated in secret, but Ackerman found out in May 2023, when he and Meredith were just weeks from finalising their divorce. Although the relationship had started after the split, Ackerman was angry and accused Meredith of cheating.
On 6 May, Meredith and Davis went out for dinner at Break on the Lake in Greenwood. Afterwards, they went on to The Key West Club, where they met up with their friend Megan McGovern, who used to babysit Meredith’s children. Ackerman had the kids that night, as per their custody arrangement. Throughout the evening, he repeatedly rang and messaged Meredith before driving around looking for her.
Fateful meeting
Eventually, Davis spoke to Ackerman on the phone himself. He left the club in the early hours of 7 May and called Meredith to say he was meeting Ackerman to try and calm the situation. He shared the location where he parked his car and waited.
Meredith was concerned, and Megan agreed to drive her to where Davis was – a remote dead-end street nearby.
When they arrived, they could see Davis’s BMW and it had clearly been hit by another vehicle. There was damage to the driver’s side and a shoe and shirt, belonging to Davis, on the ground. Then Megan saw Davis around 50ft away, covered in blood. Megan called 911 as Meredith hid in the car – convinced Ackerman was involved, and fearing for her life.
An ambulance arrived just after 1am. Tragically, Davis couldn’t be saved. At first it appeared that he had got out of his BMW and been accidently hit by a car.
But Meredith told officers about Ackerman and how he’d been sending angry, jealous messages all night. She told them Davis had gone to meet him – and was now dead.
Investigators noticed an oil slick on the road that appeared to come from another vehicle. Tyre tracks led from the spill and showed the vehicle had turned around and driven away. They went to Ackerman’s parents’ home half a mile away. On the drive was Ackerman’s white Ford truck. It was leaking oil. There was also a crack in the grille as though it had hit something. Ackerman was there and he was arrested.
The police tried to piece together what had happened. It appeared that Davis had been standing outside his car and Ackerman had deliberately crashed into it with his truck, hitting Davis and carrying him 50ft. Ackerman said it was an accident. He claimed Davis had been standing in the middle of the road in the dark, and said he hadn’t seen him until it was too late.
Detectives looked into his movements that night and they were disturbing. He’d repeatedly phoned Meredith then went out looking for her and Davis. He’d driven to The Key West Club, but was too early, then his truck was caught on CCTV outside the restaurant Meredith had been in. All night, he’d been hunting them down.
The police discovered Ackerman’s truck had an ‘infotainment system’, which stores detailed, timestamped information, such as speed, braking and even location. It showed exactly where he’d been that night and proved he’d driven by Meredith’s home and had been to the street where Davis lived. It revealed there was a ‘wheel slip’ at 1.11am on 7 May, which causes the tyres to lose contact with the road – due to acceleration or braking. Then he opened his door and put the truck into park.
Was he checking the oil leak caused by the collision? Seeing if Davis was moving? He had contact with Davis because there were traces of his blood on Ackerman’s shorts.
Court case
At the trial in September 2024, the defence team said that on the fateful night, Ackerman wasn’t out of control, he was simply trying to get some answers. They said it had been Davis who had suggested meeting in the deserted location, and claimed his shirt was off because he’d taken it off to fight with Ackerman.
They said it was too dark to see Davis was out of his car, and the truck had been going at 25mph – too fast to stop in time. But why was he travelling that fast down a dead-end, knowing he was meeting Davis there and was about to stop?
Ackerman took the stand. He said he’d just wanted to talk to Meredith and had agreed to meet Davis, but there was no intention to hurt him. He claimed he’d driven into Davis’s car to slow himself down but couldn’t avoid hitting him.
When he was asked why he hadn’t called 911, he replied, “I panicked.” He’d told his parents, and they hadn’t called 911 either.
The prosecution said Ackerman had been all over town, searching for the couple before luring Davis to the remote location.
Megan McGovern told the court about the devastating moment she saw Davis on the ground. “He had blood coming out of his ears and his nose… there was just blood everywhere,” she said.
Meredith also testified. She recalled how Ackerman had called her relentlessly and spoke of her concern when her boyfriend left to meet him. She said that when she discovered Davis had been hurt, she knew immediately Ackerman was to blame.
The evidence from the truck was damning. It proved Ackerman had targeted Davis and killed him with “malice aforethought”. The prosecution said Ackerman had used his truck as a weapon. The jury agreed and in just 22 minutes, they found him guilty of murder.
At the sentencing, Ackerman, 43, was given 45 years in prison with no chance of early parole. Davis’s parents James and Carie McClendon spoke about how much they had lost and how six children had “lost their daddy”.
Other family members spoke about Ackerman’s lack of remorse and said it was unthinkable that he’d driven away leaving Davis to die alone.
Ackerman’s truck confirmed he was a killer, but his horrific actions proved he was also unthinkably cruel.
