Another video which was in my era. I can remember playing this 45 over and over again when I was 6 years old.
Sad end for a Warrior...
Death of Lee Emerson Bellamy[edit]
On December 1, 1978, at about 11 p.m., Sadler killed a country music songwriter named
Lee Emerson Bellamy with one gunshot to the head.
[3] The shooting was the culmination of a month-long dispute the men had concerning Darlene Sharpe, who was Bellamy's former girlfriend, and Sadler's lover at the time. Bellamy made many harassing telephone calls to Sadler and Sharpe, had one violent confrontation in a Nashville bar's parking lot, and threatened both their lives.
On the night in question, Bellamy made several harassing telephone calls, including one to the Natchez Trace Restaurant where Sadler and Sharpe were having dinner and drinks with two friends. That resulted in Sadler asking a bartender to telephone the police, who never responded. Bellamy later went to Sharpe's apartment complex and knocked on the door. Sadler exited through a side door. On seeing Sadler, Bellamy fled to his van. It was at that time, Sadler testified, that he saw a flash of metal. Believing it to be a gun, he fired one shot. The bullet struck Bellamy right between the eyes, and he died several hours later in a Nashville hospital. It turned out that Bellamy was unarmed. According to court records, Sadler had then placed a handgun in Bellamy's van, presumably to strengthen his claim of self-defense. After a plea bargain, on June 1, 1979, Sadler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the death of Lee Emerson Bellamy, and sentenced to from 4 to 5 years in prison. His legal team worked to lower the sentence, which a judge reduced to just 30 days in the county workhouse. He served 28 days. Sadler was sued for wrongful death by Bellamy's stepson, and was ordered to pay compensation of about $10,000.
Sadler moved to
Guatemala City in 1984. He continued to write and publish his
Casca books, produced a never-released self-defense video, and provided free medical treatment in rural villages. On September 7, 1988, Sadler was shot in the head while sitting in a cab in Guatemala City. Witnesses said he accidentally shot himself, but his friends and family believed he was shot by a robber or an assassin. He was flown to the United States by friends in a private jet paid for by
Soldier of Fortune magazine publisher Bob Brown.[
citation needed]
He was operated on at the Nashville
Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital, and remained in a coma for about six weeks. After emerging from the coma, Sadler was a quadriplegic and had suffered significant brain damage. He was finally released in January 1989, but he was reported missing by his family.
[4] A few days later, he was found, in time to be present at a competency hearing.
[5] After being moved to the Cleveland
VA Hospital for specialized treatment, he was removed from the hospital by two former Green Berets and his mother, Blanche Sadler. After a contentious court battle waged by his wife and children, a court in Tennessee ruled that Sadler be put under the care of an independent guardian. Sadler was moved to the VA Hospital in
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in February 1989, but he never recovered from his injury. He died there of cardiac arrest on November 5, 1989, four days after his 49th birthday.
[6][7] Sadler was survived by his wife, Lavona, a daughter, Brooke, and two sons, Thor and Baron.
[8] Awards and decorations[edit]
SSG Sadler's awards include:
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