A former Florida sheriff’s deputy has been identified as the suspect in the slaying of a store clerk that took place 45 years ago. the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.
John Greer has been named not only as the accused killer of the store clerk, but also in the death of his wife a few months earlier, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies also investigated another suspicious death and some reported sexual assaults involving Greer, but were unable to gather conclusive evidence in those cases.
“I want to be clear that this individual does not represent the great men and women who have worked for this agency for more than a century,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement about the case released earlier this month. week
Endless suspicions, little evidence
Around 2 a.m. on November 5, 1979, Greer radioed to say he discovered a homicide at The Farm Store in Ridge Harbor, Florida. The victim, Adele Marie Easterly, 25, an assistant manager at the store, had been shot in the back and once in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun. The killer, a sheriff’s deputy said, escape with approximately $7.34 from the store.
Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office
Investigators interviewed Easterly’s friends and acquaintances. but insufficient evidence or information was developed to establish a solid suspect, the sheriff’s office said. No arrests were made. Some deputies were suspicious of Greer, but said they lacked substantial evidence to connect him to the Easterly case.
A few months earlier, on August 27, 1979, Greer had called the sheriff’s office to report that his wife, Jackie Greer, had shot herself at their home in Port Charlotte. The investigators had suspicions about the incident, the the sheriff’s office saidbut they were unable to link their concerns with evidence.
Greer remained free.
More casualties possible, but little progress
About a year later, on October 3, 1980, Greer resigned from the sheriff’s office four days after a friend of hers was found dead.
Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office
The sheriff’s office suspected she overdosed on pills because empty pill bottles were found in the car and a suicide note was left. Her husband, however, told the sheriff’s office that Greer was following her around and trying to have sex with her. However, no records are available to corroborate that theory, the sheriff said.
The sheriff’s office said it followed up on numerous leads in the Easterly case, including a friend who said Easterly was having an affair with a married Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy, but ultimately the case was settled .
Greer went on to work at other police and sheriff’s offices, usually near Florida’s west coast. He was also a pilot and held various aircraft positions.
Recent CBS News documented research examples of abuse and chronic misconduct in various sheriff’s offices across the country, including oversight failures that may allow abuse to go unchecked.
While the investigation focused on more recent years and mostly on situations involving the use of deadly force, CBS News found misconduct was more common in smaller, more remote communities where deputies typically had less training , fewer resources and limited oversight. In some cases, the misconduct continued for years, and even then, there were not always consequences.
A pause in the case
In 2016, the Cold Case Unit was launched a news release detailing his suspicions in the case, without naming them, “to let potential witnesses know that a law enforcement officer was possibly involved.” His hope was that someone would come forward with information.
And finally, the sheriff’s office said, came his break in the case. A former sheriff’s office detective came forward and told investigators Greer had sexually assaulted him and talked about killing Easterly. He was also working the night the store clerk died and said he saw Greer had blood on his bare hand.
The Cold Case Unit developed probable cause to arrest Greer, and in April 2023 investigators traveled to Tennessee, where he was living in an extended care facility in Kingsport. In his interview with investigators, the sheriff’s office says Greer admitted to shooting both Easterly and his wife.
Greer died at the care facility in Tennessee on March 2, 2024. He was 77 years old.
After 45 years, the sheriff’s office says the long-unsolved case is now closed.