Murder case against farmer laid out

Prosecutor: Man shot wife, put her in toolbox to get insurance money

Friday, July 13, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

GASTONIA - Jurors in the Jerry Anderson trial spent more than four hours Thursday trying to decide if the Caldwell County dairy farmer killed his wife, but ended the day with no verdict.

Anderson, 48, faces first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of his wife, Emily, and could face the death penalty if convicted. Jurors, who began deliberations shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, will resume deliberations today.

For the first time, Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas put all the pieces of testimony together to describe how investigators believe Anderson killed his wife and disposed of her body.

On Dec. 29, 2005, Bellas said, Anderson shot Emily Anderson in a pasture near the couple's dairy farm and put her body into the toolbox of her truck.

Then, Bellas said, Anderson attached the truck to one of the trailers kept on the farm and, using his own pickup, hauled it to South Carolina.

In the days after Emily Anderson was last seen in Caldwell County, Bellas argued, Anderson talked with friends and farmworkers to create false alibis.

The motive for the slaying, Bellas said, was the more than $4 million insurance on Emily Anderson's life.

"Jerry Anderson had everything to gain by Emily's death," he said.

Ten days after Emily Anderson was last seen in Caldwell County, her Chevrolet Silverado pickup was found in an S.C. restaurant and hotel parking lot, about 100 miles from the farm. She had been shot twice and her body crammed into the truck bed's large toolbox.

Attorneys for Anderson on Wednesday recounted testimony from experts who said his wife had been dead two to four days when her body was found, about a week less than the prosecution said. His attorneys also argued that investigators decided prematurely that Anderson killed his wife and ignored evidence showing otherwise.

"They have a theory," said Anderson's attorney, Lisa Dubs. "They just want to bring their opinions into the courtroom and have you decide."

Judge David Cayer told jurors they could only find Anderson guilty or not guilty of first-degree murder, not a lesser charge.

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