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Defendant in tree-farm deaths faces new counts
Freddie Hammer in court for a hearing today
Journal File Photo
Freddie Hammer is charged with the capital murder of Ron Hudler.
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Published: August 15, 2008
INDEPENDENCE, Va. - An Ashe County man facing capital-murder charges in connection with a triple killing at a Grayson County Christmas-tree farm is scheduled to be in court today for a hearing related to new charges in the case.
Freddie Hammer, 48, of Crumpler is accused in the Jan. 24 shooting deaths of the owner of a Christmas- tree farm, Ron Hudler, 73; his son Fred Hudler, 44; and farm worker John Miller Jr., 25. Hammer was in court for 5½ hours on Aug. 4 as a prosecutor laid out evidence against him.
A grand jury has since indicted him on additional charges, including a capital-murder charge related to abducting Ron Hudler for financial gain.
Hammer is due in court today for a brief hearing to determine if he wants to allow his attorneys to represent him on the new charges.
Authorities have said that Hammer killed the three men when he was interrupted while trying to steal a safe from a garage next to Ron Hudler's home.
Investigators testified that it appeared as if someone tried to load the safe onto a truck, but abandoned it after opening it with two keys. An undisclosed amount of cash was missing.
Hammer was arrested two days after the killings and has been held with no bond allowed in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin, Va.
He currently faces three capital-murder charges, according to Commonwealth's Attorney Douglas Vaught. A grand jury will consider at least two more capital-murder charges against Hammer in connection with the killings.
In North Carolina, a prosecutor may decide to request the death penalty in certain crimes.
In Virginia, the law dictates that certain crimes are capital offenses based on the definition of the crime.
It's also possible that a particular crime may include more than one element that involves a capital charge.
That means that a person may be charged for more capital-murder offenses than the number of people that he or she is accused of killing.
Here's how the capital charges against Hammer break down:
□ In July, a grand jury indicted Hammer on a capital-murder charge of committing more than two murders within three years.
□ During the Aug. 4 hearing, a judge decided that there was enough evidence to send the grand jury three cases of capital-robbery charges related to the robbery of all three men. Last Friday, a grand jury indicted Hammer on two counts of capital murder: One charge was related to murder committed during the robbery of Ron Hudler, and the other was related to the abduction of Ron Hudler.
The grand jury was to consider more charges, but the electricity in the courtroom failed.
In the confusion when it reconvened after the blackout, the grand jury did not consider the two capital charges related to the robbery of Fred Hudler and Miller.
Those two capital charges are expected to be heard during the next regularly scheduled grand-jury session in October.
Also last Friday, the grand jury indicted Hammer on these other charges related to the case:
□ Three counts of malicious wounding. Two counts were for wounds to Fred Hudler, and one count for John Miller. A medical examiner testified that each man was shot in the head more than once, and that John Miller may have been struck in the head with a blunt object.
□ Statutory burglary while armed with a deadly weapon.
□ Four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Three of the counts are related to the killings of the three men. One count is related to the robbery of Ron Hudler.
□ Possession of a firearm by a felon.
□ Grand larceny.
□ Robbery.
A trial date has not been set, but a trial is not expected to start until next year.
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
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