Hammer's reward is revoked

Frederick P. "Freddie" Hammer was ordered Monday to return a $15,000 reward he received for telling authorities the location of the body of Jimmy Lee Blevins—a man he had already admitted to murdering.

Blevins was killed in February 2007 and Hammer was seen with him the last time he was seen alive. The Blevins family had been offering the reward money for information leading to their son. The family had to borrow the money from the bank to transfer to Hammer through his attorney, Donna Shumate of Sparta. Hammer had asked that the reward money be saved in a trust for his stepdaughter.

According to the order, signed by 23rd Judicial District Resident Superior Court Judge Edgar B. Gregory, the court found that Hammer "had no right to demand or claim reward money offered by the Blevins family as he was ultimately determined to be the person responsible for the murder of Jimmy Blevins. The court further finds as fact that for the same reasons that Freddie P. Hammer cannot claim the reward money.