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Murfreesboro insurance executive Ed Netherland, a 1972 graduate of old Central High School, was killed this week by a blow to the head at his St. John rental home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the police confirmed Thursday.
"This is a homicide," U.S. Virgin Islands Police Chief Darren Foy said. "It's being investigated by my department."
Major Crime detectives in the St. Thomas/St. John district officially released Netherland's name as the homicide victim Thursday after he was found unresponsive in his home on the east end of St. John about 9:156 a.m. Tuesday, according to a U.S. Virgin Islands Police statement.
Detectives said results of an autopsy done Thursday listed blunt force trauma as the cause of death, according to the statement.
Preliminary information shows police were dispatched to Netherland's residence after an employee of the victim entered the house, found his body and called 911.
Major Crime detectives are actively investigating the case and urge anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-TIPS. People also can call 911 or detectives at 340-774-2211, extensions 5614, 5618 or 5619.
Netherland, 60, who maintained an office off Medical Center Parkway here, was found dead with a head wound Tuesday morning by a cleaning woman, a neighboring property owner told the St. John Tradewinds.
"It looked like a tussle and they hit him or he hit his head," the neighboring property owner said to Tradewinds. "It wasn't like (the house) was ransacked - his wallet was gone; his watch was gone."
Chief Foy confirmed that police were notified that someone who cleaned the apartment found the body. The door was locked and the cleaner needed access, he said.
Foy said he had not been contacted by the FBI to join his department in the investigation. He said detectives are checking out everyone who has access to the house.
The modern house hangs on the edge of a cliff in an isolated area on the north shore of Privateer Point on St. John's East End, the neighbor said.
The businessman was involved in a Virgin Islands economic development program and spent about half the year there, according to a Nashville Post report.
Rutherford County Sheriff's Office and Murfreesboro Police had not been contacted by U.S. Virgin Islands Police as of Wednesday evening, spokesmen said.
Netherland is listed as an insurance agent with Lifecorp Holdings in Murfreesboro. He also is named as owner of Lilac Capital on West End Avenue in Nashville on InsuranceBroker-Agent.com, and as treasurer of Sea Mist Usvi Inc., which filed as a foreign for-profit corporation in Florida in January 2013, according to corporationwiki.com.
In July 2012, Netherland was sued in Illinois along with Rutherford County financier Ira Brody, Matthew Ross and Fifth Third Bank by Nina investments, which claimed it got taken for more than $80 million it invested with the brokers in 2005 and 2006, according to a Chicago Sun Times report.
A lawsuit filed by Nina said it was to get large returns on its investment through insurance-backed securities and a premium finance product known as "Ultra," the article reports.
The lawsuit states that the investment company's money went instead toward debt piled up by Netherland, Brody and Ross while they lived "lavish lifestyles," according to the article.
Nina initially invested $6.5 million and then added $75 million to buy "Ultra" from Netherland's and Brody's investment firm Concord with the promise it could make anywhere from $30 million to $90 million in fees and commissions in just three years, the article reports.
The plaintiff said Fifth Third Bank played a role in the fraud by extending credit to Netherland, Brody and Ross, one of the bank's executives, even though they were deep in debt, the article reports. The suit also claimed that Fifth Third knew Ultra couldn't bring the returns that Concord guaranteed, according to the article.
In 2009, Brody, formerly of New York, made a bid with Republicans for the Tennessee state treasurer's seat. That office oversees Tennessee's government investments and retirement funds, in addition to the state workers compensation pool. At one point, Brody was listed as chief operation officer in Nashville-based investment bank InsCap Management, a firm in which Netherland was also involved.
In April, Netherland tried to persuade Pasco County school district in Florida to buy a life insurance plan for its employees, according to a Tampa Bay Times article.
Under the plan, four families from New York were to invest $100 million each into premiums for life insurance policies covering the school district's 9,769 employees, the article reported. The school district was to set up a trust insuring workers and paying their families $50,000 after their death, in addition to $50,000 each for the district. The district and the employees were to pay nothing, according to the article.
The article reports that Netherland, working as a consultant for Swiss Re and Pollock Financial, tried to explain to school board members how the policy would function during a workshop.
"It sounds a little bit too good to be true, so let's figure out how it works out," Netherland is quoted as saying. He told the board he set up a similar life insurance program with investors such as Warren Buffett. The school board, however, was skeptical, according to the article.
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