STUART — A Palm City man authorities say killed his father and then buried the body in the family’s back yard has been indicted by a Martin grand jury on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

The grand jury returned the indictment against Tyson Larimer Chaffin late Wednesday after spending the day hearing evidence presented by Assistant State Attorneys Erin Kirkwood and Bernie Romero.

Chaffin, 26, who is being held without bail at the Martin County jail, is accused of shooting to death his 54-year-old father, Charles Franklin Chaffin. Authorities found his body buried behind his Palm City Farms home on Wisteria Way, near the entrance to Florida’s Turnpike on Martin Downs Boulevard,

A murder investigation was launched by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office after the suspect’s 23-year-old girlfriend, Keisha Stamper committed suicide and her grandmother in Kentucky told deputies she killed herself because she was upset about the murder.

Authorities believe Chaffin shot and killed his father Aug. 1, but the body wasn’t discovered until Aug. 13.

When confronted, Chaffin told detectives he shot his father in the forehead with a .44 caliber handgun during a domestic dispute when he was attempting to remove his belongings from the home, according to arrest reports.

Chaffin said the day before the murder, he’d told his father Stamper had threatened to call police with information that the elder Chaffin was growing marijuana at the home.

On Aug. 1, as Chaffin attempted to get his belongings, he said he saw his father was angry, carrying a handgun and tearing apart the siding on an outside wall near his room.

As a dispute between the two men escalated, according to Chaffin’s statements to authorities, he became fearful for his life and grabbed his gun and fired, striking his father in the head.

He said he then panicked and used a wheelbarrow to carry the body to the back of the property, where he buried Charles Chaffin. After that, he planted three trees over the area.
Melissa E. Holsman, TCPalm.com

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