Boone County man charged in slayings
A Boone County man was charged Friday with two counts of capital murder, stemming from the shooting deaths of a married couple.
William Curtis Krohn, 55, is accused of shooting Christine Ann Pryor, 57, and her husband, William Eugene Pryor, 56, in the living room of their trailer at 19001 Old Lowery Road near Omaha on Wednesday.
Krohn was also charged with aggravated residential burglary and a sentence enhancement for using a firearm to commit a felony, said Wes Bradford, deputy prosecuting attorney.
Capital murder carries a sentence death or life without parole.
Bradford said the decision whether to seek the death penalty won’t be made until after the Boone County sheriff’s office completes its investigation.
“They’re still putting together their case, so it’s a bit premature to say,” Bradford said.
Bradford said he hopes the investigation can be complete in time for Krohn’s next court appearance, which is Aug. 20. Bradford said a trial date may be scheduled at that time.
Krohn lived in one of two other trailers on the property and the three had been arguing for a period of time, because the couple apparently hadn’t been paying for the food and beer they consumed, Bradford said, in a previous interview.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEShooting accident leaves man dead
PINE BLUFF - A Pine Bluff man was found shot to death after an accident at a Pine Bluff motel early Friday, police say.
Jefferson County Coroner Chad Kelley said Devante Robinson, 18, was pronounced dead at 4:01 a.m.
at the America’s Best Inn at 2700 E. Harding Ave.
Authorities found Robinson lying in a breezeway of a building on the north side of the motel at 3:38 a.m. and a blood trail leading to Room 222, according to a news release from the Pine Bluff Police Department.
Lt. Terry Hopson of the Pine Bluff Police Department’s detective division described the shooting as a “legitimate accident” involving one of Robinson’s friends, whose name was not released by police because he hasn’t been charged with a crime.
“The file will be put together for the prosecutor to review, but the prosecutor was in line with the fact it was an accident,” Hopson said.
After being shot in the chest in Room 222, Robinson fled on foot down the stairs to where he collapsed, the news release said.
Robinson’s body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for an autopsy.
A small caliber semiautomatic handgun believed to have been used in the shooting was discovered inthe motel’s parking lot, the news release said.
Witnesses told authorities that the victim and the shooter were friends and had been together all day. There had been no problems or disagreements throughout the day between the two, the news release said.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Road work closes U.S. 62 stretch
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has announced that lanes along a 2.5-mile stretch of U.S. 62 between Interstate 540 in Fayetteville and Arkansas 170 in Farmington will be partially closed Sunday through Aug. 7.
Work crews will be cold milling and overlaying the roadway from 7 p.m.-6 a.m.
Sunday-Friday and from 7 p.m.-midnight Aug. 7. Alternating lane closures are planned for both eastbound and westbound lanes.
The work is part of a $826,182 roadway rehabilitation project by APAC-Central Inc. of Fayetteville.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEAssaults send
sheriff to prison
MUSKOGEE, Okla. - A former Choctaw County deputy sheriff has been sentenced to prison for assaulting three men while he was a deputy.
U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling says Ben Milner was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Muskogee to 18 months in prison. Milner was convicted last September of violating the civil rights of the three men and of falsifying official reports in an effort to cover up his actions.
He was accused of physically abusing a truck driver during a traffic stop in October 2005 and of beating two inmates with an ax handle in October 2007.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Forced landing yields no injuries
JENKS, Okla. - No injuries are reported after a medical helicopter made a forced landing shortly after takeoff from Jones Riverside Airport near Tulsa.
The Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter landed safely in a field at a horse farm near the airport Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters say the helicopter had dropped off a patient from Texas and was returning to Sherman, Texas, when the pilot said its hydraulics failed.
Firefighters say the helicopter crew included the pilot, a paramedic and a nurse.
The forced landing comes just more than a week after two people were killed and a third critically injured when an EagleMed medical helicopter crashed near Kingfisher.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 07/31/2010