A former Florida sheriff’s deputy has been identified as the suspect in a store clerk’s murder 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 before that, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies also investigated another suspicious death and some reported sexual assaults connected to Greer, but weren’t able to gather conclusive evidence on those cases.
“I want to be clear that this individual does not represent the overwhelmingly great men and women who have worked for this agency over our century-plus of existence,” said Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement about the case released earlier this week.
Endless suspicions, little evidence
At around 2 a.m. on Nov. 5, 1979, Greer radioed dispatch to say he discovered a homicide at The Farm Store, in Ridge Harbor, Florida. The victim, 25-year-old Adele Marie Easterly, an assistant manager at the store, had been shot once in the back and once in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun. The killer, the sheriff’s deputy said, escaped with approximately $7.34 from the store.