Family files suit against Hammer

The estate of Jimmy Blevins, whose body was found Aug. 4 after Fredrick "Freddie" Hammer admitted to murdering him and burying him in a pit in Ashe County, has filed a lawsuit against his killer.

Prior to admitting to killing Blevins and Timothy "Tim" Shatley, Hammer had already been convicted of killing three people at a Grayson County (Va.) Christmas tree farm and was sentenced to five life terms. Ashe County authorities have not confirmed that Hammer killed Shatley, a former Alleghany County resident who still has family here, but have said they are continuing to investigate that claim.

Before he would admit to the two additional murders and an Ashe County arson on July 31 and subsequently reveal the location of Blevins' body, Hammer made several demands. Among them was that he be moved to a prison closer to Ashe County to serve his sentence, that he be allowed a face-to-face meeting with his wife, that he be immune from the death penalty and, much to the chagrin of everyone involved, that a $15,000 reward be given to his stepdaughter before he would reveal the location of Blevins body. The body was found in a hole off N.C. 88 west in the Clifton community near Warrensville. The Blevins family borrowed the $15,000 and turned it over to Hammer's attorney with the stipulation that it be placed in a trust account for the stepdaughter.

According to regional media reports, David Blevins, father of Jimmy Blevins and administrator of his estate, filed the suit on Aug. 13 in Ashe Superior Court. The suit asks for more than $10,000 in compensatory damages and more than $10,000 in punitive damages "to deter Hammer and other psychopaths like him from similar future conduct," according to media reports. Hammer is now being held in Wallens Ridge in Big Stone Gap, Va., a 'Supermax' facility with very high security where he was moved on Aug. 7 as part of his agreement with authorities.

Attorneys David Jolly of Crumpler and Clifford Britt of Winston-Salem are handling the lawsuit pro bono in an attempt to recover the family's money, media reports said.

Blevins initially disappeared on Feb. 24, 2007 after having last been seen in Hammer's pickup truck. Blevins had worked for Hammer's firewood business.

Hammer's wife Brenda is the sister of David Blevins, Jimmy Blevins' father, who filed the suit.

Ashe County Sheriff James Williams said earlier that Hammer's request for the money was 'blackmail' and that Mr. Hammer "is a despicable individual."

The sheriff also noted, however, that Brenda Hammer was not in favor of the deal her husband made and that she never knew about Hammer's actions against her nephew or any of the others. Media reports stated that Mrs. Hammer went to the prison to ask her husband to return the money to her family. When he refused, the family filed the lawsuit in an attempt to reclaim the money.