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Polk Man Killed In House Where Slaying Occurred Years Ago

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 5, 2009

Updated: 02/05/2009 09:39 pm

Thirty three years before Jon Green was shot dead in his home near Polk City Tuesday, another fatal shooting occurred at that home.

Daniel Morris Thomas was executed after being convicted of the New Year's Day 1976 murder of Charles Lamar Anderson, 48. A single intruder shot Anderson five times. He then raped Anderson's wife while Anderson lay dying.

An 11-month reign of terror by the "Ski Mask Gang" ended Jan. 20, 1976, when Thomas and three other alleged gang members were arrested at Thomas' home near Bartow. The men were convicted of various crimes.

The gang was blamed for 17 attacks on homes in seven Central Florida counties in the mid-1970s. Two men were murdered; five women were raped. Thomas was the only gang member tried for murder.

Tuesday's shooting appears unrelated, but Polk County deputies say it occurred at the same home – 9598 County Road 557-A.

About 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, deputies arrived at the home to check on homeowner Jon Green, 70, after two people called and said they were concerned about his safety.

The callers, Terry Waters and Tammy Johnson, had made an agreement with Green on Tuesday afternoon to clean his yard and move in with him. They returned to the house about 9 p.m. expecting to spend the night, Sheriff Grady Judd said.

A woman, later identified by investigators as 20-year-old Christine Northrup, answered the knock at the front door but did not open it, Judd said. Northrup told Waters and Johnson that Green was at a bar in Polk City and to come back later.

Unsatisfied, Waters and Johnson called 911.

On the 911 call, released by the sheriff's office today, Johnson told a dispatcher Green was "worried about somebody robbing him at the house."

Johnson and Waters drove away from the house and told the dispatcher what they saw from a distance. They told dispatchers they could see people inside the house "crawling around" so they wouldn't be seen through the windows. Waters also tells the dispatcher "John-John Palmer and Christine Northrup" were the people inside.

Then Waters says, "They're running out the door right now!"

"Please get somebody out here now," Johnson says.

While Johnson talks to the dispatcher, Waters is heard in the background saying, "I'm not getting involved. I'm not blocking the driveway if they got a gun or something."

Minutes later, Palmer and Northrup get into Green's Dodge Ram pickup truck. They "shut their lights off and they're flying down this road," Waters said. "They're running from us!"

"Something happened to the dude in the house,'' Waters says. "Oh, my god. Oh, lord. Oh, man. Something happened to him, man. That's sad."

When deputies arrived at the house, they found Green's body wrapped in blankets. He had been shot at least twice in the chest and had defensive wounds on his hands, Judd said.

Sometime Tuesday night, 36-year-old John Palmer called his mother's friends and said, "I took your gun, and I killed Jon Green. I got rid of the gun, and I'm going to kill myself," Judd said.

As detectives investigated the scene of the slaying, deputies were on the lookout for Palmer and Northrup. They were spotted about 2:15 a.m. near Haines City, still driving Green's Dodge Ram. Deputies followed it on westbound I-4, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Eleazer said. Deputies tried to get the truck to pull over, but it fled at speeds of up to 100 mph.

The pursuit lasted several miles.

Deputy Richard "Barry" Hill sat in a parked patrol unit on the interstate's north shoulder, off the side of the on-ramp at State Road 559 in Polk City, as the pursuit came his way about 6 a.m. He planned to deploy stop sticks on the truck.

Instead, the truck struck a guardrail and careened toward Hill's cruiser. It struck the cruiser going about 80 to 90 mph.

The vehicles were propelled into the thick brush and trees on the south side of Lake Agnes, just off of I-4, the sheriff's office said.

Palmer, the pickup's driver, fled into the heavy brush and trees in a wooded area near the Fantasy of Flight attraction.

Hill, 46, of Lakeland was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center and has at least six broken ribs, cuts, bumps and a bruise to the interior wall of his abdomen, Judd said. He needed 14 stitches to the back of his head.

Northrup, a Polk County resident, has a broken ankle and other minor injuries. She was taken into custody Wednesday but was has not been not charged. She is still being questioned, deputies said today.

A Polk sheriff's helicopter spotted Palmer swimming in Lake Agnes, Eleazer said. Palmer refused to show his hands or comply with deputies' commands to come out of the water, she said. He waded deeper into the lake and swam toward its center. Palmer then went underwater and didn't emerge.

The sheriff's office's marine unit and dive team went into the lake, trying to find him. His body was found about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday. A preliminary autopsy says he drowned.

"It's rather evident to me that to drown in four feet of water, it would have to be an intentional act," Judd said.

Details of the relationship between Palmer and Green were unclear, but the men knew each other and Green had let Palmer into his house, Judd said. The sheriff said investigators might never get all the answers, but he said Green has been known for helping those who are down and out.

A year ago, a SWAT team came to Green's house after Palmer's brother, Jody Lynn Palmer, hid in the home from deputies. Green was upset deputies were after Palmer's relative, and Judd said Green was "no friend to law enforcement."

"Quite frankly, Jon Green did not deserve to die with a cold blooded, vicious murderer attacking him, but that's exactly what happened," Judd said.

Palmer has previous convictions for burglary and criminal mischief. He also was charged with attempted first-degree murder in June 1992 but he later was convicted of misdemeanor battery of a spouse instead, state attorney's spokesman Chip Thullbery said.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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