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Retired Florida deputy fatally shot son-in-law, investigators say

THE ACREAGE, Fla. — A retired Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy shot and killed his son-in-law — the father of his two young grandsons — Sunday night in The Acreage, according to authorities.

Carlton Nebergall Jr., 61, was arrested early Monday on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Jacob Lodge, 36, who was in divorce proceedings with Nebergall's daughter, court records show. Nebergall appeared Monday morning with his attorney, Michael Salnick, in front of Judge Ted Booras. Booras recused himself from the case, though, saying, "I've known the defendant for too many years."

Nebergall will remain in the Palm Beach County Jail until at least Wednesday, when another judge can rule on his bond requirements.

Nebergall was taken into custody late Sunday after deputies responded to a home on the far east end of Mellow Court, near the Pond Cypress Natural Area, following a shooting. Authorities found Lodge fatally shot at about 8:30 that night. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Sheriff’s authorities have not commented on what may have motivated the retired deputy to shoot Lodge. Court records indicate Nebergall’s daughter filed for a divorce from Lodge last month.

Lodge’s younger brother, Clint, said Monday that Nebergall’s daughter and Lodge had an “off-and-on, love-hate relationship” for about a decade. They had two boys, ages 9 and 5, according to Clint Lodge. They had been living separately prior to Lodge’s death, his brother said.

He said Lodge and Nebergall had argued before over Nebergall’s daughter. He wasn’t sure what led up to his brother’s killing.

“He was far from perfect, but he didn’t deserve that,” Clint Lodge said about his brother, calling him “one of the best, just somebody you could really look up to.” Records indicate Jacob Lodge was scheduled to be on probation until May 2019 in a theft-related case. He had another open theft case in which he was accused of stealing from his former employer, an air-conditioning company. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

His in-laws’ law enforcement backgrounds led to conflict about being on “the right side of the law,” Clint Lodge said.

Nebergall worked at the Lantana Police Department from 1981 to 1985, when he joined the sheriff’s office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement records state. He worked at the sheriff’s office until his retirement in 2012.

His son, Jason Nebergall, joined him at the sheriff's office in 2007, state records show. However, during his nine years on the job, the younger Nebergall was accused of being overly aggressive, pulling a gun on a fellow deputy and engaging in sexual misconduct at a West Palm Beach-area nightclub while on duty and in full uniform.

In December 2016, Jason Nebergall, a U.S. Air Force member, was arrested after a then-26-year-old woman accused him of sexually battering her months earlier. He had responded to the woman’s home earlier on the night of the alleged incident for a disturbance call and returned to “check in” on her, he said. He denied inappropriately touching her, though his DNA was found on her breasts.

He had been placed on paid administrative in July 2016, after the sheriff’s office was alerted to the allegations. It was not immediately known whether he is still on the sheriff’s office’s payroll.

Salnick is representing the younger Nebergall through the legal proceedings of that case, which remains open while Nebergall is out of jail on a $100,000 surety bond. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.