Exclusive: Accused murderer Ronnie Hyde's cousin: 'Heart-wrenching'

1994 FRED LASTER COLD CASE: Family of missing teen suspected Hyde for decades | Who is Ronnie Hyde, suspect in 1994 murder? | Why did it take 23 years to make arrest in Laster case? | Major challenges ahead for investigators 

The cousin of accused murderer Ronnie Hyde visited Hyde in jail for nearly two hours on Tuesday.

Hyde's cousin, who did not want to be identified, spoke exclusively to Action News Jax after their meeting.

Earlier this month, Hyde was charged with killing and dismembering 16-year-old Fred Laster in 1994, when he was a youth pastor at Laster’s church.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is holding Hyde in isolation at the jail.

“It’s kind of heart-wrenching,” said Hyde’s cousin.

He said it’s hard for him to believe the man he’s grown up with would murder a teenager, leave his dismembered torso near a Lake City dumpster and then go on for 23 years as if nothing had happened.

“I wouldn’t think he would harm a fly," the family member said. "But he’s always been a calm demeanor, never raised his voice. So this, you know, what’s been portrayed is not what I’ve seen."

He said Hyde did not try to tell him whether he was guilty or innocent during their visit.

“Not one bit. We didn’t get into that. And if he would start to bring anything up, I would say, ‘Hey, talk to your, speak to your lawyer about anything. I don’t want to know anything about the investigation,’” he said.

As FBI agents spent nearly a week searching Hyde’s two Duval County homes, his cousin said Hyde has been passing his time in jail reading books and reading the Bible every day.

“Well, he is a compassionate person. He is very faith-oriented in Jesus,” he said.

Hyde was a mental health counselor at Crosswater Community Church in St. Johns County.

Hyde’s cousin said he gets together with Hyde several times a year, but had not been inside his house since he was a teenager more than 20 years ago.

He said he was surprised to hear that, during the FBI’s raid of Hyde’s home in Jacksonville Beach, multiple sources told Action News Jax that Hyde was a hoarder.

“Because when his parents were living, the house was very, very clean and all that,” he said.

He also wanted to set the record straight about Hyde’s parents.

A childhood neighbor described them as “mean” and Hyde posted on Facebook about being abused as a child.

“Not always is everything what it seems to be. There are some things that were mentioned about his parents on the news. That’s probably the hardest thing because, knowing his parents, somebody saying that they were mean and they were standoffish -- that was never them at all, from what I knew,” he said.

He is urging the public to “hold judgment until things are proven to be one way or the other.”

Hyde’s visitation log shows he had three visits last week -- two from an attorney and one from another family member.

Cox Media Group