`Life was real simple,' then wife's slaying shattered it

As he puts pieces together again, Anderson says his son is his first priority

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

Two years ago, Jerry Anderson and his wife, Emily, were working at their Caldwell County dairy farm and preparing to start a new, larger spread in Tennessee.

The farm would have been the largest in four states and something Anderson, who had been a dairy farmer for most of his life, had been working toward for years.

"My life was real simple. Dairy. Church. Work," he said.

But now, Anderson is building a whole new life after spending 18 months in jail on charges that he murdered his wife.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Jay Gaither's office dismissed first-degree murder charges against Anderson, who became the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office's main suspect after his wife disappeared and her body was found stuffed in the toolbox of her truck. She had been shot twice.

"I worked hard for 25 years, my whole life, and saw it crumble in 25 seconds," he said Thursday.

Anderson was charged with murder in his wife's death, but after a 10-week trial, a Gaston County jury could not reach a verdict. The jury split 11-1, with the majority favoring acquittal. Anderson was released on bond and returned to Caldwell County.

The cows had been sold, stalls at the Sawmills dairy farm sat empty and plans to start a larger farm in Tennessee were abandoned.

Since July, Anderson has been living with friends not far from the Sawmills farm and has spent time reconnecting with his son, 13-year-old Matthew, whom he didn't see while he was in jail.

"My son is No. 1 right now," he said.

Anderson said he's still trying to cope with losing his farm and his wife. "Emily was super outgoing, and she was really good for Matt and I," he said. "We offset each other well."

Morganton attorney Dan Kuehnert is representing Anderson in several civil matters, including a wrongful death suit filed by Emily Anderson's sister, Adelia Griffitt Watson, in 2006. Neither Kuehnert nor Anderson would talk in detail about the criminal charges and the arguments made during the trial by the district attorney's office, but Anderson has maintained his innocence for nearly two years.

"It's nothing I should have ever gone through," he said. Court documents showed that Emily

Anderson had more than $4 million in life insurance, and authorities originally said they believed at least part of the motive in her slaying was financial gain. Anderson said Thursday that his life was also insured -- for $10 million.

Gaither's office, in a press release sent by the lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Eric Bellas, said Tuesday it "remains committed to the prosecution of the person or persons responsible for Emily Anderson's murder."

Anderson said he hopes they catch her murderer and can prove it in court. "If you're going to charge someone with capital murder," he said, "be sure you've got the right person."

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Company's stolen data used in scam

Fake checks made with financial information from trucking business

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

A family-owned trucking company in Claremont has been used in an international fake-check scam, officials at the Better Business Bureau said Friday.

Financial information, including bank account numbers, were stolen from Freedom Transportation and used to generate fake checks that were sent all over the world, said Janet Hart, a spokeswoman for the BBB of Southern Piedmont.

The checks were printed with Freedom Transportation's name, address and bank account routing number and were accompanied by a letter that said the recipient had won a home improvement grant, said company owner Kathy Gregory.

In most cases, she said, a $4,900 check arrived with a letter telling the recipients that they had won $34,000.

The recipients were asked to cash the checks and were told they'd receive the balance of their prize money after they had sent at least $3,100 to another bank account, usually in another country, to cover taxes and fees.

"A few days later, the `winners' found out that the original check was fake and that they had lost the money they sent," Hart said.

Neither Gregory nor Hart knew how many of the fake checks had been cashed.

In the past four weeks, Freedom Transportation and the company's bank have received several hundred calls from people across the country asking about the letter or saying the cashed checks had bounced.

"I just hate that there are poor people out there who have cashed these checks, and now the banks are wanting their money back," Gregory said.

All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.