BROWNSTOWN, Ind. – Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Richard Poynter sentenced a Jackson County man on Monday to 18 years at the Department of Corrections for the October 1982 killing of a Seymour man.
In December 1982, the body of Clifford Smith, 24, was located by trappers along the White River, north of Seymour. Investigators at the time determined that Smith died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Indiana State Police (ISP) detectives investigated the homicide in 1982, but no arrests were made at the time. Over the years, the case has been passed to several investigators for examination. Sgt. Kip Main, Indiana State Police-Versailles Post, has been actively investigating the case since September 2015.
Sgt. Main’s investigation determined that Ronald J. Anderson, now aged 63, of Seymour, was at a residence on East 13th Street with Clifford Smith and other individuals in the late hours of October 30, 1982. The investigation further indicated that Anderson retrieved a shotgun from the house, loaded it, and left the residence in a vehicle with Smith. Smith was not seen alive again.
On October 31, 2023, exactly 41 years to the date of the homicide, Anderson was arrested and incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail on the charge of murder.
On April 4, Ronald Anderson pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter, with the murder charge being dismissed. The crime of voluntary manslaughter is murder committed while under the influence of sudden heat. The sentence range for the crime of voluntary manslaughter is 6 to 20 years.
Deputy Prosecutors Mark Hollingsworth and Daniel Carnes, who handled the prosecution for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, stated they were satisfied with Judge Poynter’s sentence. Hollingsworth said, “I commend ISP investigators for their dedication to this case over the last 40 years to bring justice and closure to Clifford Smith’s family.”
