Wanted fugitive found dead of apparent suicide in Benton County
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BENTON COUNTY, Tenn. — A man hunted by the FBI for more than 10 years, believed to be dead, is found in Benton County. The man was found in his garage Wednesday, dead, after investigators said he hanged himself. But this apparent suicide took a strange turn when deputies started digging. “We investigated further,” Benton County Sheriff Kenny Christopher said. “The further we went into the investigation the more things didn’t really add up.” Deputies said this man was completely off the grid, having no credit cards or bills in his name, paying for everything with cash. The only thing was a registration for a truck which was under the name Kenneth Hamilton. “We continued to dig, calling numbers that he had in his billfold,” Sheriff Christopher said. “Finally we hit on the right number. ” A social security number, leading deputies to the man’s true identity William Hunter, 75, moonshiner, convicted on gun and marijuana charges more than a decade ago in middle Tennessee. “They had pretty much given up on the case,” Sheriff Christopher said. “The family wanted to settle up on his estate so they declared him dead.” Officials said, off and on for the past five years Hunter lived under his alias, Kenneth Hamilton, in rural Benton County. Having little to no contact with the outside world, other than the people who owned his home. “We’d give him food to eat, vegetables from the garden,” Glinden Allen said. The Allens said they let him stay rent free, taking care of most of his expenses, having no idea who he really was. “He was just a perfect gentleman,” Allen said. “I have no regrets of what I did for him.” Hunter was wanted out of Clay County after skipping out on his sentencing hearing back in 2004.
