Jackson County cold case leads to 18 year prison sentence

A Jackson County man is heading to prison for a man’s death committed more than 40 years ago.

According to Indiana State Police, 63-year-old Ronald J. Anderson of Seymour was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty in the case from 1982.

24-year-old Clifford Smith was killed in rural Jackson County on Oct. 31st of that year. He was first reported missing in early November, but his body wasn’t found until December when it was discovered by animal trappers working in an area along East Fork White River near Rockford. He had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head.

Although the death was investigated at the time, and for years afterwards by successive detectives, no arrest was made.

State Police Sgt. Kip Main began investigating the case in 2015. His investigation alleges that Anderson was at a home with Smith late into the night before the death, loaded a shotgun, then left the home with Smith and the victim was never seen alive again.

Police say that Anderson returned the weapon to the home in Seymour and later returned to the scene of the crime to hide evidence.

Main’s investigation led to the arrest of Anderson in October of 2023. He pled guilty in April to voluntary manslaughter.