Robert Earl Peterson, a 45-year-old man from Jacksonville, NC, was convicted of the brutal murder of his stepfather, Roy Bryan Andrews, a 64-year-old retired Jacksonville Sheriff's Office patrolman. The incident occurred in August 2005 at Greenlawn Cemetery on Beach Boulevard. Peterson lured Andrews to the cemetery under the pretense that his car had broken down. Once there, Peterson shot and beat Andrews to death. The motive behind the murder was financial; Peterson was angry because his stepfather had cut him off from financial support in an effort to force him into self-sufficiency. Peterson had received $35,000 in assistance from his mother, the victim's wife, in the year prior to the murder.
Peterson was initially sentenced to death for the murder of Andrews.
However, due to a Supreme Court decision in 2016 that overturned many non-unanimous death sentences, Peterson's original 7-5 death penalty verdict was overturned, and he was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The new jury returned the identical 7-5 verdict, resulting in Peterson serving a life sentence.
The case garnered significant attention due to the brutal nature of the crime and the involvement of a retired law enforcement officer as the victim. The legal proceedings highlighted the complexities of the death penalty and the impact of Supreme Court decisions on such cases. Peterson's actions and the subsequent legal battles serve as a stark reminder of the consequences of violence and the importance of justice in society.
