CHESTER — jmcfadden@heraldonline.com

A couple that took a beach vacation after the man allegedy beat his cousin to death while his pregnant girlfriend waited outside appeared before a judge Tuesday to receive bond.

Sixth Circuit Court Judge Brooks Goldsmith set a $60,000 bond for Anthony O’Brian Isom, 24, of Chester who police charged with murdering his cousin, 24-year-old Bradley McAteer. Crystal Harley Pardue, Isom’s 27-year-old girlfriend from York who was charged with accessory after the fact, received a $20,000 bond.

Police found McAteer, a Chester Wood Products employee and the father of two daughters, beaten to death in the bathtub of his Tremont Street home June 15. Isom and Pardue had fled the city to Myrtle Beach for a trip they already had planned, said Julie Hall, assistant Sixth Circuit solicitor.

Three days later, police arrested Isom and Pardue after finding the couple walking along Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, according to The Sun News. Officers recognized the two as being wanted in a Chester homicide.

Isom and Pardue were extradited to Chester County, where they have remained jailed.

McAteer, who was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, died at the hospital June 16.

According to prosecutors, Isom and Pardue went to McAteer’s house to collect money he apparently owed to Isom. The two cousins got into a fight and ended up in McAteer’s bathroom, where Isom beat the man to death without the use of a weapon, Hall said.

Isom is forbidden from contacting Pardue as a condition of his bond, Hall said.

Records with the State Law Enforcement Division show that Isom’s been convicted of several misdemeanors, including drug charges, underage drinking and criminal domestic violence. He had just been released on bond for a March assault and battery at the time of McAteer’s death.

Pardue’s offenses include misdemeanor convictions for possession of marijuana and driving without a license, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.

Jonathan McFadden •  803-329-4082