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Ga. woman with 5 dead spouses leaves jail

A grandmother charged in the death of one of her five dead husbands has been released from a North Carolina jail.
Wife Cold Cases
Betty Johnson Neumar is shown at her booking in Augusta, Ga., over the summer. Neumar, charged in the death of one of her five dead husbands, has been released from a North Carolina jail. Anonymous / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

A Georgia grandmother who came under suspicion because all five of her husbands had died was released Thursday from a North Carolina jail where she had been held on charges in one of their deaths.

Betty Neumar, 76, posted $300,000 bond late Thursday morning at the Stanly County jail, where she's been held since her arrest in May, Sheriff Rick Burris said.

Neumar is charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder in the 1986 death of her fourth husband, Harold Gentry.

"I can't believe they let her out. It's just wrong, flat out wrong. I don't understand," said Gentry's brother, Al, who pressed law enforcement for more than two decades to get the case reopened.

Tried to hire killers?
Prosecutors allege Betty Neumar tried to hire three people to kill Gentry in the six weeks before his bullet-riddled body was found in his rural North Carolina home.

Since her arrest, police in Florida and Ohio have begun to re-examine the deaths of her first child — Gary Flynn, whose 1985 death was ruled a suicide — and three of her other husbands, though she faces no charges in those cases.

Georgia police recently closed their re-examination of the death of her fifth husband, John Neumar, saying they have no evidence she was involved.

His son, John K. Neumar, was also shocked to find she was out of jail: "I've lost all faith in the legal system," he said from his Georgia home.

Neumar's attorney, Charles Parnell, said the case has "been blown out of proportion." He said evidence continues to be released that shows his client wasn't involved in her husbands' deaths.



Parnell said he expected Neumar to return to Georgia, where she lives with her daughter.

'My back has a big target'
Al Gentry said law enforcement officers have told him to be careful since he was instrumental in Neumar's arrest.

"Now my back has a big target on it," said Gentry, who said he regularly carries a gun for protection.

Burris said he was surprised Neumar was able to post the bond, recently lowered from $500,000, but confident in the prosecution's case. He said it will likely take several months for prosecutors and defense attorneys to review all the court documents.

Parnell said he assumed family helped her pay the required portion of the $300,000 bond. Burr Bail Bonds, which she used to post bail, did not return messages left at its Albemarle office.