In the quiet community of Yuma, Tennessee, a long-simmering property dispute between neighbors erupted into a fatal act of violence on July 6, 2018, claiming the life of 64-year-old Ben Cole Birdwell, a White male. A retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Birdwell was found deceased from a gunshot wound to the head on a railroad easement near his School House Road property.
The tragic event sent ripples through the small town and prompted an investigation that would soon lead to the arrest of his neighbor.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, working in conjunction with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, quickly identified Birdwell's neighbor, David Anderson, as the primary suspect. Evidence gathered during the initial stages of the investigation pointed to Anderson as the individual responsible for Birdwell's death. On the evening of July 7, 2018, Anderson was taken into custody and formally charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence. He was subsequently booked into the Carroll County Jail on a $150,000 bond.
The legal proceedings that followed saw a series of developments. In August 2018, after posting bond, Anderson was found to have violated the conditions of his release by purchasing ammunition and being in possession of a loaded shotgun. This led to his immediate re-arrest, and he was held without bond. By September 2019, the initial charges against Anderson were replaced with new indictments, including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, especially aggravated stalking, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
Ultimately, the case did not go to a full trial. In December 2019, David Anderson, then 64, accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of voluntary manslaughter. As a result, he received a sentence of eight years and six months in prison. He also faced concurrent sentences for aggravated trespassing and unlawful possession of a weapon. As part of the agreement, Anderson was required to serve at least one year in jail, surrender his firearms, and was permanently barred from returning to Yuma. The resolution of the case brought a close to a neighborhood dispute that had escalated to a fatal and tragic conclusion.
