December 5, 2013
(Anderson, SC) .An Anderson County jury found John Kennedy guilty today in the murder of Claude “Schaffer” Scott. The Honorable Cordell Maddox sentenced Kennedy to 30 years in prison.
On March 30, 2012, deputies responded to a call on Echo Circle in Anderson regarding an injured man found inside his home. Deputies found the victim, 76 year old Claude Schaffer Scott, lying inside the doorway of his home severely beaten. A neighbor had come by to check on him when she encountered a black male later identified as John Fitzgerald Kennedy coming from behind the trailer where Mr. Scott lived. Kennedy had been staying in a camper belonging to the victim on the same property. The neighbor stated that Kennedy drove away from the scene in the victim’s automobile. The vehicle was later found on South Main Street in Anderson. A frying pan found at the scene was believed to be the murder weapon. Mr. Scott was transported to AnMed Medical Center where he made a statement to an Anderson County detective identifying his attacker. The victim died a short time later.
“Today’s verdict is justice for Mr. Scott and his family,” said Solicitor Chrissy Adams. “John Kennedy violently attacked and murdered an elderly man who had allowed him to stay on his property. These reprehensible actions are well deserving of the sentence handed down today. I want to thank law enforcement for their quick apprehension of the defendant and the men and women of the jury for rendering the only possible verdict in this case, a verdict that will protect others in our community from further violence by John Kennedy.”