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Hammer murder trial awaits defense-team investigative work
Investigators gathering information on defendant in other states
Freddie Hammer, 49, of Crumpler is charged in connection with the killings of Ron Hudler, Fred Hudler and John Miller Jr. on a Christmas-tree farm in Grayson County, Va., on Jan. 24, 2008.
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Published: January 10, 2009
INDEPENDENCE, Va.
A trial date for a man accused of killing three people on a Christmas-tree farm in Grayson County, Va., will not be set until defense attorneys finish their investigation, a judge said yesterday.
Freddie Hammer, 49, of Crumpler entered the Grayson County Courthouse under tight security, handcuffed, with a chain around his waist and wearing leg shackles. An officer with an assault rifle stood guard as patrol cars blocked the driveway at each end. Hammer exited from a prison van and shuffled a few steps into the courthouse.
Hammer faces five capital murder charges and 11 other felony charges in connection with the killings in Jan. 24, 2008, of the owner of the Christmas-tree farm, Ron Hudler, 73; his son, Fred Hudler, 44; and a farm employee, John Miller Jr., 25.
Defense attorneys updated the court on their trial preparations, including an investigation into Hammer's background. They also told Circuit Court Judge Brett Geisler that the defense plans to file several motions in the case next week.
Hammer is scheduled to appear in court again on Jan. 28.
"As soon as you all complete the investigation we'll try to get a trial date," the judge told defense attorneys.
Steve Milani of Virginia's capital defenders office told the judge that the defense had spent about $1,600 on a trip to Philadelphia and is going through about 3,500 pages of court documents obtained there.
In 1980, Hammer was convicted of killing an off-duty Philadelphia police officer two years earlier. He was freed from prison in 1986after being acquitted during a new trial ordered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The defense told the judge that it plans to send investigators back to Pennsylvania and Delaware next week to talk to Hammer's relatives or former neighbors.
Defense attorneys also learned that as a child, Hammer had spent time in a children's home run by the Catholic church, and plans a visit there, Milani told the judge.
Interviews of people who knew a defendant in the past are standard as defense attorneys prepare for capital cases. In Virginia's legal system, if a defendant is convicted in a capital case, the defense must be prepared to move immediately into a second trial and offer witnesses whose testimony jurors would weigh in deciding whether the defendant should get the death penalty.
The three victims were shot to death during a robbery at Ron Hudler's home, according to Ashe County and Grayson County authorities. The home is a couple of hundred yards north of the North Carolina-Virginia state line.
Ron Hudler was found inside his home. His son was in the driveway, and Miller was in the detached garage. Each had been shot in the head at least once.
A heavy safe inside the garage had been moved and was open when authorities arrived, they said. An undisclosed amount of cash is still missing.
The killings happened on a Thursday. Hammer, who had once worked for Ron Hudler, was taken into custody that Saturday, Jan. 26, in Punta Gorda, Fla., where he had traveled to visit his stepfather. Authorities announced Hammer's arrest the next day.
Hammer is being held without bond in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin, Va.
Though Hammer is accused of killing three people, he faces five capital charges. Virginia law allows a defendant to be charged with various elements of a crime.
Hammer is charged with three counts of capital murder related to robbery. He is charged with one count of capital murder related to the abduction of Ron Hudler, who investigators believe was forced at gunpoint back inside his home when he came out to investigate the gunshots. He also faces one count of capital murder related to killing more than one person within a three-year period.
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
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