On Dec 18th, 2004 Deputy Robert Hedman and his partner Sgt Billy Anders, both working for the Otero County Sheriff’s Dept in New Mexico, responded to a call of a shooting.
When deputies went to the front door of the home, a man answered and refused to let them enter. Robert Hedman then went to the back of the house, where he was shot by Earl Flippen.When Robert Hedman?s partner moved toward the back of the home, Flippen started shooting at him, but the deputy returned fire and killed Flippen.
This was the first time since 1898 that a deputy was killed in the line of duty in Otero County, Blansett said.
More here:
On Dec. 18, suspect Earl Flippen shot and killed Deputy Robert Hedman as Hedman and his partner, Sgt. Billy Anders, responded to a reported shooting at a house 10 miles outside Cloudcroft. Flippen, who is believed to have killed his pregnant girlfriend inside their rented home, fatally shot Hedman as the deputy approached the back door of the house.
Police have said that Flippen then walked around the side of the house toward the front, exchanged fire with Anders and was fatally shot.
A little bit more on the incident:
He and Deputy Robert Hedman, responding to calls about gunshots, questioned Flippen and noticed blood on the floor, state police said. He refused to let them in, so Anders went to a patrol car to call for help and Hedman went to the rear of the house.
Flippen shot Hedman, 53, in the head behind the house, state police said. They said Anders then encountered Flippen near the front of the house and that Flippen was killed in an exchange of gunfire.
The body of Flippen’s pregnant girlfriend, Deborah Rhoudes, 30, was found in a closet.
In fact there was a 3 year old girl in the house who was the only survivor. Flippen shot his pregnant girlfriend dead and then shot Deputy Hedman to death. He starts walking to the front of the house where Hedman’s partner engages the suspect and kills him. Firing 4 shots. Now this on Tues:
A grand jury on Tuesday indicted Anders in the Dec. 18 shooting death of Earl Flippen, 38.
State police have said Flippen died in an exchange of gunfire with Anders outside a home east of Cloudcroft.
The news in the area is reporting that they believe Anders handcuffed the suspect and then killed him, which is just an incredible story. This guy shot Hedman in the head then went to the front of the house and gave up? Anders handcuffs him and then shoots him? Doubt it very much. There is a tape involved so I will withhold judgement, maybe Anders got in the shootout and handcuffed the suspect then after finding his partner dead he went and pumped a few more in him…seems kinda farfetched to me but who knows.
Deputy Hedman was a career military officer:
Hedman was born July 2, 1955, in Cooperstown, N.Y.
He served in the Army for 21 years, retiring in 1994 as a staff sergeant. A military policeman and member of Special Forces, Hedman was a veteran of the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service.
After retiring from the military, Hedman served as a police officer in Tularosa for one year and as a deputy sheriff for a year in Lincoln County before moving to Alamogordo Department of Public Safety. From ADPS he moved to the Otero County Sheriff?s Department where he was a deputy for two years.
?Bob had been with us for two years and three months,? said Otero County Sheriff John Blansett on Tuesday. ?And he?d been working the mountains for us for about a year.?
?He was very caring,? Blansett said. ?Bob was very dedicated and well-respected by the citizens in the mountain communities and his peers. He was the type of guy who had a lot of his own projects going on.?
Hedman was in the process of building a home in the mountains at the time of his death, Blansett said.
?He liked to work on his John Deere tractors and he was building that home in the mountains,? said Blansett. ?That took a lot of his time.?
Despite the time required for his job and working on his home, Hedman also found time to work with his wife, Cheryl, on his days off at the Alamorosa restaurant the couple leased.
?Bob was a good guy,? Blansett said, ?a good worker, very dedicated. He was always wanting to be the point man.?
According to Alamogordo Department of Public Safety Police Chief Sam Trujillo, Hedman was an important part of his department during his five years with the agency. Hedman worked at ADPS from 1994-1999, Trujillo said.
?I have tremendous respect for anyone who puts on a badge and risks their life for the benefit of others. Bob Hedman will be missed.?
A crisis fund for Hedman?s family has been set up at First National Bank in Alamogordo. According to the bank, the account titled the ?Robert Hedman Benefit Account? is open for any donations which the public may wish to make.
God Bless Deputy Hedman, you are a true hero.
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Where can I write a letter to Sgt. Billy Anders ? Do you have an address ? Thanks.
I AM A REALITIVE OF ROBERT HEDMAN. I WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT BILLY ANDERS, HE IS A HERO TO OUR FAMILY AND WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. AS WELL AS BOBBY. I KNOW THAT BOBBY WOULD WANT NOTHING MORE THAN FOR THE FAMILY TO TAKE BILLY IN AS OUR FAMILY MEMBER IN NEW YORK. WE LOVE YOU BOB AND BILL. COUSIN
This story is a joke, Billie Anders is a hero? What about the dashboard cam that showed Anders shooting the suspect AFTER he cuffed him.. Did you go to the trail and watch this video? I supose this was made up too eh? This was another good ole boy network, they thought they could get away with murder. I am sorry the officer lost his life, but that is NO reason for Anders to shoot the suspect AFTER he had him in cuffs. Anders is nothing but a joke, and a lair. He’ll kill again, he believes he is above the law because of this. He is not, he is just another person who killed someone. Watch the video and tell me this guy was innocent. Oh by the way it was on Dateline, and 60 minutes, give me a break. Anders is going to hell for killing someone, at least he could have shot him out of cuffs. Do I think he should have killed the guy, sure he was pond scum, but you don’t arrest someone and then kill him..
Anders is a killer… I bet you won’t post this comment because it doesn’t hail the man as a hero.
Anders is a hero. D.N. is a fool.
DN, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? The man not only shot an officer, but also killed his girlfriend who was 8 months pregnant! He killed THREE people, and you’re saying Anders is such an awful person for taking this dangerous, white supremacist, serial killer off the streets? You need to get your head checked.
dn you’re a criminal and you think like one,
you should be put in jail before you kill some innocent citizen,
how come BILLY ANDERS IS IN PRISON FOR SHOOTING A MURDERER ?
THIS IS A CROOKED JUDGEMENT THAT WAS DONE BY A SICK BRAIN JUDGE
WHO SHOULD NOT BE JUDGE, EVER,
RETRY THAT CASE AT ONCE AND REPAIR THE WRONG DOING OF PUTTING THAT MAN IN JAIL,
THIS IS THE BIGGEST UNFAIR ACTION THAT JUDGE HAS DONE, AND WE DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE HE’S GUILTY OF.
GET THE DEPUTY SANDERS OUT OF THERE, AND SEND HIM TO CANADA, WHERE RESPECT FOR THE DEPUTY AND CARE FOR THE HERO ANYWHERE IN ANY FORCES THEY WORK FOR JUSTICE,
AND MILITARY, IN THE WAR ZONE ARE A ADMIRED
THE HERO WHICH ARE ALIVE ARE SO FEW, WE MUST DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE CORRUPT SOCIETY WHO ALLOW CRIMINAL TO GO FREE AND JAIL THE OFFICERS
WHO APPLY THE LAW AND SURVIVED TO BE THROWN IN JAIL,
THAT MURDERER HAD TO BE KILL ARE YOU BLIND OR A CRIMINAL YOURSELF LIKE THOSE WHO PUT HIM IN JAIL.
GET THE MAN OUT AT ONCE
EVEN HANDCUFF, I DOUBT IT TOO,
BUT A KILLER STILL IS VIOLENT TO KICK AND CONTORSIONS TO HURT THE OFFICER,
THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT
TO HAVE CONVICT SANDERS, WHAT KIND OF STUPID JURY WAS THERE, TAKING SIDE WITH THE KILLER?
TO LEAN ON THAT. AND DESTROY THE LIFE OF A BRAVE MAN WHO FACE THE CRIMINAL,
THERE IS NO REASON FOR HIM TO BE JAILED,
WHAT A SHAME FOR THE WHOLE NEW MEXICO CITIZENS, AS LONG AS SANDERS IS IN JAIL, THEY DON’T DESRVE THEIR LAW OFFICERS.
When Earl was in the Los Lunas prison I stood by him, I was his girlfriend for nearly two years. He never seemed like he could hurt a soul. He wanted me to move to Cloudcroft with him when he got out of prison, I had a bad feeling about him at the end and now I’m glad my instincts kicked in because I would of been the female killed at that cabin that fateful day.
@Voliza:
she was three months pregnant not 8