Court Orders Blevins Reward Money Returned to Ashe

By Joel Frady

After confessing to the February 2007 murder of Jimmy Lee Blevins, Frederick P. Hammer made a few

demands. One of them raised more than a few eyebrows and sickened some stomachs: he wanted the $15,000 that the Blevins family had offered for information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of Blevins' murderer.

Ashe County Sheriff James Williams was present when Hammer made the demand, shortly before the body was discovered on Aug. 4, 2009, and was tasked with relaying the information. The family didn't hesitate when told of Hammer's demands to quietly gather the money.

The reward money was delivered to Donna Shumate, an attorney based in Alleghany County who Hammer had requested to represent him in the matter.

Williams had said that, by the agreement made, Hammer was the only one who could return the money and that he hoped that Hammer's wife, Brenda, could talk him into giving the money back.

Waiting to see if Hammer would return the money wasn't working for the Blevins, however, and on Thursday, Aug. 13, they took the matter out of Hammer's hands by filing a civil wrongful death lawsuit. Represented by attorneys David Jolly and Cliff Britt, Jimmy's father David Blevins filed the suit that demands in excess of $10,000 each for compensatory and punitive damages.

Jolly, a neighbor of the Blevins' in Crumpler, said that the family called him when they were forced to pay the $15,000 and that he offered his services pro bono. He noted that the reason the civil suit was filed was to recover the $15,000.

Jolly and David Blevins went a step further on Monday, Aug. 17, when Jolly filed a motion for an order for interpleader with the Ashe County Clerk of Superior Court. In the motion, David Blevins argues that Hammer "is a slayer and is prohibited from taking the reward money or exercising power of appointment over the reward money," citing Chapter 31A of the North Carolina General Statues (known as the "slayer statute").

The Honorable Edgar Gregory, resident Superior Court Judge in the 23rd Judicial District, signed the motion into an order for interpleader minutes after the motion was filed. According to the court order, Shumate must "pay over to the Ashe County Clerk of Superior Court the sum of $15,000," and that the clerk "shall retain control of the $15,000 pending a further hearing" that addresses the ownership of the money.

Jolly said that Hammer was "never entitled to the money" due to the slayer statute and therefore has no right to give the money away, either.

Ashe County Clerk of Court Pam Barlow said that Hammer must be served all the paperwork and will have 30 days to file a response.

While the $15,000 will stay in the court's neutral hands until the matter is resolved, Jolly was optimistic about the case.

"We're going to fix it," he said.

To find out more about the slayer statute, or any other North Carolina statues, click to www.ncleg.net/gascripts/statutes/statutes.asp.