SEYMOUR, Ind. – Detectives from the Indiana State Police (ISP)-Versailles Post have arrested a Seymour man who is alleged to have murdered a rural Jackson County man over four decades ago. Ronald J. Anderson, 61, was arrested for the murder of Clifford Smith, who was 24 when he was killed on October 31, 1982, authorities said.
Smith’s body was found by two animal trappers on December 1, 1982, in the Rockford area along the White River near County Roads 700E and 800N, just north of Seymour. Smith had been reported missing by his wife on November 4, 1982. It was determined at the time that the victim died from a gunshot wound to the head.
ISP detectives investigated the death in 1982 but no arrests were made then. Over the years, the case has been passed to new investigators. Sgt. Kip Main has been actively investigating the murder since September 2015.
Sgt. Main’s investigation determined that Anderson was at a house on East 13th Street with Smith and others in the late hours of October 30, 1982. The suspect allegedly retrieved a shotgun from the house, loaded it, and left the residence in a vehicle with Smith. Smith was not seen alive again, according to police.
Anderson also supposedly returned the murder weapon to the home on 13th Street and came back to the crime scene soon after the murder to hide potential evidence.
As a result of the inquiry, ISP, in cooperation with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, an arrest warrant for murder was recently issued for Ronald Jack Anderson. On Tuesday, October 31, he was arrested at his residence on the east side of Seymour, without incident.
The suspect was transported to the Jackson County Jail where he was incarcerated pending an initial appearance in the Jackson County Circuit Court.