Arden man sentenced to prison in double homicide

ASHEVILLE – An Arden man charged with shooting his next-door neighbors repeatedly during a dispute last year pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, Assistant District Attorney Chris Hess said Wednesday.

Erwin Lynn Jarvis, 60, was sentenced this week in Buncombe County Superior Court to 32-40 years in prison in the deaths of Robert and Genise Matheson.

The shooting happened Sept. 30, 2013, although the tension between the neighbors on Birch Lane had been festering for some time. Jarvis said he "snapped," Hess said.

"He was tired of the behavior toward him and his family and just couldn't take it anymore," Hess said.

Jarvis and his wife said they were fearful of the Mathesons' dog, a husky, and Jarvis carried a gun because of the dog, Hess said.

"These folks did not get along, just plain and simple," Hess said.

Jarvis was walking his dogs last September when he and Genise Matheson got into a confrontation, Hess said. Jarvis told a mental health provider that she was yelling and screaming at him and called him a coward, Hess said.

Jarvis pulled out a 9mm and emptied a clip at the Mathesons, Hess said. The gun jammed while he was using the second clip, Hess said.

Genise Matheson, 50, had eight bullet wounds and her 54-year-old husband had six. Both were shot in the head, Hess said, and died at the scene.

A neighbor driving home and the victims' 12-year-old son told authorities that they saw Jarvis stand over one of the bodies on the ground and shoot one more time. The neighbor and child called 911.

Hess said the Mathesons never threatened anyone with a weapon before the shooting.

"They definitely were making the Jarvises feel very uncomfortable living beside them," Hess said, adding multiple people told police that the Mathesons were "not ideal neighbors."

Police searched Jarvis' home after the shootings, according to a search warrant, and seized eight guns. According to police records, city officers were called to one of the two homes more than two dozen times over the past three years. Nine calls were for loud music, six for civil disturbance, two for yelling and one for domestic disturbance.

Jarvis had no prior criminal history.