Story about killing shifts: Hammer now says he did not kill his nephew

By: By Monte Mitchell | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: October 25, 2009

JEFFERSON

Freddie Hammer, who told authorities where to find the body of a missing Ashe County man in August, now says he didn't kill him, according to court documents filed in a civil lawsuit.

Hammer is already serving five terms of life in prison without parole in Virginia for killing three men on a Grayson County Christmas tree farm on Jan. 24, 2008.

While in prison, he admitted to also killing his nephew Jimmy Blevins in 2007, authorities said.

Hammer drew a map of the area where Blevins was buried in Ashe County, according to Ashe Sheriff James Williams. At the scene, authorities called Hammer and he helped direct them to the spot where they dug down four or five feet to find Blevins' body on Aug. 4.

Hammer agreed to provide the information in exchange for $15,000 in reward money from Blevins family. The money was put into a trust fund for a child Hammer had helped care for before he went to prison.

But soon after the body was found, attorneys for the Blevins family filed a lawsuit against Hammer seeking to have the money returned to the estate.

Superior Court Judge Ed Gregory has since ordered the money held in trust by the Ashe County clerk of court pending disposition of the case.

Hammer, acting as his own attorney, last month filed an answer to the lawsuit and denied shooting Blevins in the head. He also asked for a jury trial.

The civil trial has been set for April 12, 2010.

Williams said yesterday he's not surprised Hammer would deny killing Blevins. But, Williams said, Hammer did tell them he'd killed Blevins and told authorities where to find the body. Hammer said at the time that he was angry with Blevins because Blevins was trying to recover $1,600 in back wages for work he'd done at Hammer's business, Freddie P's Firewood.

Williams said he didn't expect the civil case to affect the criminal case against Hammer.

Hammer has not been charged in connection with Blevins' death, but authorities plan to bring criminal charges against him, Williams said.

Those charges have not been filed, in part, because it is a long, complex process to bring him from prison in Virginia to face an indictment in North Carolina.

Authorities are also continuing to investigate Hammer's possible connection to another killing.

Tim Shatley was found shot to death on N.C. 16 at the bridge over the North Fork of the New River on Nov. 19, 2005.

Hammer has at times denied killing Shatley and admitted killing him. The sheriff's office is continuing to investigate that case.

mmitchell@wsjournal.com
667-5691