CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — A former Charlotte County Sheriff's Deputy has been named as the suspect in a 1979 killing of a store clerk.
“I have always said that we will not hide from our past, no matter how dark. This case shows that we will always seek the truth, even when we may not like what we find,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the Charlotte County cold case:
“I was 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.”
On November 5th, 1979, Deputy John J. Greer reported to dispatch he discovered a homicide.
Greer said he found Adele Marie Easterly, 25, a clerk at the Farm Store on Highway 17 and North Washington Loop Road, had been murdered.
Medical examiners discovered she had been shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun.
During the investigation no evidence or information was developed that would establish a solid suspect.
According to CCSO, initially, many Sheriff’s Office investigators were concerned about Deputy Greer.
Some even believed he could have been responsible for the death but lacked substantial evidence to back up their suspicions.
"I think anybody around him for five minutes would realize something maybe off here, if you're a law enforcement officer and been around him you know something is off here," said CCSO Cold Case Detective Mike Gandy. "But those guys back then, the detectives and officers that were working had those feelings as well but you can't do anything with just feelings."
TROUBLING BEHAVIOR
On August 27, 1979, Greer called the Sheriff’s Office and reported that his wife, Jackie Greer, shot herself in their home in Port Charlotte.
An investigation was completed, and although the Sheriff’s office says investigators suspected something was not right about the incident, there was no evidence to prove the case was anything other than suicide.
71 days later, Greer “discovered” Adele Easterly’s body.
Another female acquaintance of Greer was found dead a year later while sitting in her car in a wooded area of Port Charlotte.
The woman’s husband had reported her missing on September 20th, 1980.
Her body was discovered nine days later.
Investigators say the cause of death was undetermined, but it was suspected she overdosed on pills because of empty pill bottles were found in the car.
Her body was too decomposed to determine the cause of her death.
No signs of trauma were noted.
The woman left behind a suicide note that appeared to be legitimate, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Her husband told deputies that Greer had been following his wife around and was coming to their house while on duty and attempting to have sexual relations with her.
Detective Gandy said Greer might have contributed to her suicide, but investigators don't believe he was directly responsible for her death.
"We don't have a lot of information on that, but we don't believe he was responsible for killing her," said Detective Gandy.
Greer, under investigation at the time, was suspended from the Sheriff’s office in October of 1980.
He resigned that same day.
“AFRAID OF A DEPUTY”
In October of 1986, six years after Greer resigned from the Sheriff’s Office, a friend of Adele Easterly came forward.
She told detectives she was afraid to come forward before because “she was afraid of a deputy,” according to investigators.
The Sheriff’s office says the friend stated she had conversations with Easterly about her different relationships.
Easterly told her friend she had been dating a Charlotte County deputy who would visit her on night shift and bring his gun into the Farm Store to “protect” her.
FORMER EXPLORER COMES FORWARD
In 2016, after the Easterly cold case was featured on the Sheriff’s office’s unsolved cases website, a former Sheriff’s Office Explorer came forward with information about Greer.
The former Explorer told investigators Greer sexually assaulted her numerous times and threatened to kill her.
During one sexual assault, according to investigators, Greer told the woman to “ask them dead (victims) liked Adele Easterly what happens when they say no to me.”
"We got lucky and we got a report from what we put out in that release," said Detective Gandy. "And that report led us to being able to say okay we are confident this is our guy."
Cold Case Detectives discovered Greer was living in an extended care facility in Kingsport, TN in 2023.
In April of that year, detectives traveled to Kingsport to interview Greer.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, at the time, Greer was bedridden and could only give short answers to questions.
“When asked directly if he shot Adele Easterly and his wife, Jackie, Greer admitted to shooting them,” the Sheriff’s office says.
Cold Case detectives could not confirm with Greer if he shot his wife intentionally, or if it was an accident.
The Sheriff’s Office says Greer’s health was seriously compromised and he would most likely never leave the care center.
“It was determined Greer would never be well enough to stand trial, but the deaths of Adele Easterly and Greer’s wife were confirmed to have been at the hands of John Greer,” the Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Greer passed away at the care center in March of 2024 at the age of 77.
