Daniel James Smith
HANCOCK COUNTY — More details have been released surrounding the murder of a Greenfield man, Freddie Patterson, 69, late last week. Reports indicate Patterson was bludgeoned to death. According to a probable cause affidavit, Daniel James Smith struck Patterson multiple times in the face with a hammer.
The case against Smith was officially opened in Hancock County Superior Court 1 Thursday when Hancock County prosecutor Brent Eaton filed the murder charge. Smith had his initial appearance Friday morning, Feb. 24. Judge D.J. Davis entered a not guilty plea on Smith’s behalf and appointed a public defender. Smith is being held under no bond in the county jail and is due back in court Wednesday, April 19 for a pretrial hearing.
Smith, 39, 5666 East U.S. 40, Greenfield is facing one count of murder surrounding a family dispute Feb. 16. The charge normally carries anywhere from 45 to 65 years in prison, with an advisory sentence of 55 years.
“I believe that the evidence will show Smith committed a murder — a murder with a hammer,” Eaton said.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officials from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department were called to the home where Smith lives on the night of Feb. 16 with the report of a deceased person. Upon arrival, officials spoke with a woman, Smith’s mother, who said there was an unresponsive male, sitting in a chair in the living room.
The male, identified later as Patterson, had severe facial trauma and was not breathing, officials said in the affidavit. The woman told officials her son Smith was also in the house. When Smith eventually walked outside to surrender with his hands held up, officials noticed he was wet from head to toe, covered in water.
Officials took Smith’s mother to the Sheriff’s office for an interview and she told them the man in the chair was her half brother, Patterson, and that three people including herself, her son Smith and Patterson had lived in the residence since 2012, the affidavit said.
Smith’s mother told officials she went to bed around 9 p.m. She was then awakened by a banging sound. When she went to see what it was, she told officials her son, Smith, walked passed her into the bathroom. She then stated Fred was in the chair and she called out “Fred” but then saw his face was smashed in, the affidavit said.
Smith’s mother noted that she immediately called 911 and went to the front door to wait for officials and while there she could hear water running in the bathroom. The woman noted her son and Fred did not have a good relationship, the affidavit said.
Smith was transported to the county jail and agreed to speak with officials, the affidavit said. When officials asked Smith what happened, he started talking about events from 1980 the affidavit said. “He then spoke about random things not focusing on any one particular thing,” officials wrote in the report.
Smith eventually told officials he thought Patterson was part of a cult and how the property they lived on was being used for trafficking and illegal products involving Singapore and the Chinese Mafia, the affidavit said.
Smith went on to tell officials he had drank a six pack of beer and taken a couple of shots of moonshine earlier in the night, the report stated. Smith noted he did not approve of Patterson’s prior brushes with the law, but added he tried to get along with Patterson.
Smith then told officials Patterson verbally abused him in the kitchen, and thought maybe he was in a recliner in the living room, the affidavit said. Smith told officials he believed the person in the chair was molesting a minor and he was “angry and discussed.” Smith then said he had been programmed to “hit him (Patterson) on the head with a hammer,” the affidavit said.
Smith admitted to hitting the person in the chair 10 times in the head, and then going into the bathroom to take a shower because he “didn’t feel clean,” the affidavit said.
Eaton said there wasn’t much more he could say on record about the case at this time other than it was important to have a dangerous person in custody.
“When someone commits an act like this, they’re going to be charged,” Eaton said.
