CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB/Gray News) – A former Florida deputy has been identified as the suspect of a 1979 cold case murder, along with several other suspicious deaths.
On Nov. 5, 1979, John Greer radioed Charlotte County dispatch and said he had run across a homicide.
Greer said he found Adele Marie Easterly, 25, murdered at Farm Store in Punta Gorda, Florida, where she worked as a clerk.
The medical examiner determined Easterly was shot twice, once in the back and once in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Interviews failed to establish a suspect, but many investigators were concerned with Greer and believed he could be responsible but did not have substantial evidence to back up their suspicion.
Earlier that same year, Greer called the sheriff’s office and reported that his wife, Jackie Greer, had shot herself in their home. He was off duty at the time.
Greer told responding deputies he was sleeping and heard a “pop.” He looked for his wife and saw smoke coming out of the closet. He opened the door and found his wife was in the closet and had been shot.
During their investigation, investigators suspected “something was not right” about the incident, but had no evidence to prove the case was anything other than suicide.
Another acquaintance of Greer was found dead while sitting in her Ford Mustang in a wooded area of Port Charlotte, Florida. Her husband had reported her missing on Sept. 20, 1980, and her body was found on Sept. 29, 1980.
Her death was ruled a suicide, but her husband told investigators that Greer had been following his wife around and was coming to their home on duty and attempting to initiate a sexual relationship.
Greer was suspended and also resigned from the sheriff’s office on Oct. 3, 1980, while under investigation for other activities.
Detectives interviewed one of Easterly’s friends in October 1986. She told a detective that she was previously afraid to speak to them because she was afraid of a deputy.
The friend stated that Easterly told her that she was dating a Charlotte County deputy who would visit her on the night shift and bring his gun into the Farm Store to “protect” her. The friend told authorities that she believed the gun the deputy brought was not his duty weapon.
The friend said when Easterly realized that the deputy was married, she tried to break off the relationship. The deputy allegedly told Easterly that he had told his wife that he wanted a divorce and his wife took his service revolver and said she was going to shoot herself.
He told Easterly that the two fought over the gun and it went off and killed his wife, according to the friend. About two weeks before Easterly was murdered, she told her friend that she was afraid of the deputy. The friend believed that Greer was the deputy Easterly was seeing.
The sheriff’s office said that no other deputy during that time had lost a wife to suicide or homicide and the Farm Store was in a zone that Greer often worked during his midnight shift.
In November 1986, detectives requested that a crime scene investigator with blood splatter training examine Greer’s wife’s death scene.
An investigator from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office examined the scene but could not determine if her death was a suicide or homicide. He did determine her death could not have occurred in the manner Greer described.
In 2016, Cold Case Unit detectives released more information about Easterly’s death hoping someone with knowledge of the crime would come forward.
Detectives received information from a former Explorer with the sheriff’s office and when they interviewed her, she said that she had been sexually assaulted numerous times by Greer and he had threatened to kill her.
During one sexual assault, Greer allegedly told her to “ask them dead b—–s like Adele Easterly what happened when they say no to me.”
The woman was working in dispatch the night Easterly was found dead in the Farm Store. She said that she saw Greer drive into the sheriff’s office complex. He entered through the east side door with what appeared to be a long gun in his hand and he looked disheveled.
She said she noticed one of his gloves was off and he had something on his bare hand that could be blood. When Greer saw her, he either motioned or told her to get back into dispatch.
After a few minutes, he drove from the east side of the building to the west side and came back inside. He looked like he just showered, according to the woman.
The detectives continued interviewing past employees and Explorers with the sheriff’s office.
Detectives were able to develop probable cause to arrest Greer and attempted to interview him.
They learned that Greer moved from his home to an extended care facility in Kingsport, Tennessee. In April 2023, detectives traveled there to interview Greer. At that time, he was bedridden and could only give short answers to questions.
He appeared to understand questions but could not carry on long conversations. When asked directly if he shot Easterly and his wife, Greer admitted to the shootings.
Detectives determined 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 his wife and Easterly were confirmed to have been at the hands of Greer.
Greer, who was 77, died at the care center on March 2, 2024.
After leaving the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in 1980, Greer applied to several agencies and worked in a few police and sheriff’s offices. Greer also was a pilot and held a variety of pilot and aircraft-related positions in and around Kingsport, Tennessee.
Detectives are continuing to investigate Greer to determine if he was involved in any other violent crimes in Florida and other states.
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