A MAN accused of murdering two men over a taxi fare before “slow-cooking” them in a backyard pit has been released on bail by a US court.

James Edward Loftis was charged with murder after the fatal shootings of Guma Oz Dubar, 46, and James Cody Newland, 32.

Early on March 5, James Edward Loftis found himself facing the men in his South Carolina home. They were demanding a taxi fare for the ride Loftis had just received from a local strip club.

Court documents reveal that the victims came into Loftis’ home to get the cash — but when he went to get the money, he returned with a gun and fired eight shots.

The New York Daily News reports that Loftis’ lawyer Stephen Harris explained the circumstances and said Loftis will be using a controversial ‘Stand your ground’ defence.

“He freaked out and thought he was going to prison, so he tried to hide the bodies. Nobody knows how you’re going to react when you kill two people,” Harris said.

Police were called by Loftis’ wife after she returned home and saw blood and bullet holes.

After shooting the men, he dragged them into the backyard where we put then in a shallow pit and set it on fire.

“They were essentially just slow-cooked inside the gravesite,” Prosecutor Bryan Alfaro told the Berkeley County court during the bail hearing.

South Carolina has a Protection of Persons and Property Act which allows homeowners to use whatever force necessary to protect themselves and their home with what’s called a “stand your ground” philosophy.

“If he wouldn’t have burned those bodies, he would be a free man. (Police) see this horrible aftermath and say it’s malice. It’s not malice. It’s a person who’s scared,” Loftis’ lawyer said.

A judge in the case granted bail to the 39-year-old, who faces murder charges for fatally shooting the cab driver and his friend.

Bail was set at AU$500,000.

The defence of private property has been a hot topic in Australia over the past few months. Thirty-three-year old Ben Batterham was charged with the murder of 34-year-old Ricky Slater-Dickson in March after Batterham allegedly found Slater-Dickson in his Newcastle property in the early hours of a Saturday morning.