Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Ex-Deputy Accused Of Killing Grad Student He Thought Was Having An Affair With His Wife
“My wife was cheating on me and I couldn’t take it,” a man identified by authorities as Winford “Trey” Adams III can be heard saying in a harrowing 911 call after allegedly fatally shooting Benjamin Cloer.
A former sheriff’s deputy has been indicted on seven charges after authorities say he shot a college graduate student he believed was having an affair with his wife.
Winford “Trey” Terrell Adams III, 32, was indicted Feb. 4 on charges of malice murder, felony murder, first-degree home invasion, two counts of aggravated assault and firearm charges after allegedly shooting 26-year-old Benjamin Lloyd Cloer to death, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Athens-Clarke County police were called to the scene of the shooting around 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 10 after receiving a 911 call from Adams, who allegedly told the dispatcher he had shot Cloer.
“I just shot somebody,” a man identified by authorities as Adams can be heard saying in the 911 call, obtained by Oxygen.com. “My wife was cheating on me and I couldn’t take it.”
Adams, a Madison County deputy sheriff at the time, went on to explain that he had caught his wife cheating and “couldn’t stop myself.”
Cloer fled to a nearby neighbor’s yard. Initially, Adams told the dispatcher he didn’t “even know if I hit him.”
But after seeing blood on the steps, Adams realized he had struck the man.
“If you’re there, I am sorry,” he can be heard shouting on the call before telling the dispatcher he “heard some movement” next door.
Adams repeatedly threatened to take his own life, telling the dispatcher, “I can’t go to jail for the rest of my life.”
Adams’ wife, Charlotte Adams, also called 911 to report the shooting as she tried to hide in her car.
“He just pulled a gun out and shot at my friend and I want to leave because I don’t want him to come back,” she said in the call obtained by Oxygen.com.
But during the call, Trey Adams pulled his vehicle up behind her and begins to talk to her.
“No matter what I always loved you, even if you didn’t love me,” he can be heard telling her.
Charlotte responds by saying “I did love you!”
Charlotte stops talking to the dispatcher and can be heard screaming in the background as she repeatedly pleads, “Don’t do this!”
Before the 12-minute call ends, Charlotte gets back on the line and tells the dispatcher Lloyd had just been her friend.
“He’s just my friend,” she said. “This is just a misunderstanding. My husband doesn’t understand he’s just my friend.”
Cloer, who had been pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Georgia, was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries, according to a press release from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.
Trey Adams is being held without bail at the Athens-Clarke County Jail.
