NLR man charged in teen’s homicide
A North Little Rock man was arrested and charged with capital murder Thursday in the death of a teenager whose body was found last week in a field, police said.
Timothy Harper Jr., 19, was arrested by North Little Rock police Thursday evening in connection with the death of 15-year-old Austin Addie, department spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick said. Addie’s death marked North Little Rock’s fifth homicide of 2013.
Addie’s body was discovered April 12 in a field across from the Valle neighborhood near the corner of Campbell Road and Saunders Drive. Dedrick said that the North Little Rock teen had been shot more than once.
“It was hard to tell exactly what had happened [to Addie],” Dedrick told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
“We had an idea something wasn’t right, but with the state of the body, we couldn’t tell if it was a gunshot wound or what.”
Addie was reported missing when he did not return from an overnight stay at a friend’s house April 7, according to police reports. His body was found five days later by a man riding a four-wheeler.
Harper remains in Pulaski County jail without bail.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Man found slain after car shootout
TEXARKANA - Texarkana police said a man was found dead in a car after he was involved in a shootout with another vehicle.
Police said officers found a wrecked car Thursday night in the 800 block of Pinehurst Street. Texarkana police spokesman Kristi Mitchell said officers had to break out a window of the car because the doors were all locked.
Officers found a man shot to death inside the vehicle.
Mitchell said his name is being withheld pending notification of relatives.
The Texarkana Gazette reported that the man was involved in a shootout with another vehicle. Witnesses told police that the victim drove in reverse down Pinehurst as he was being fired upon from a car that was pursuing him. No arrests have been made.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Suspicious death ruled a suicide
BATTLEFIELD, Mo. - Greene County authorities said a woman’s death was a suicide, but someone moved her body after she killed herself.
Twenty-three-year-old Desiree A. Haugen was found dead at her Battlefield home April 9.
The death wasconsidered suspicious but the Greene County sheriff’s office said Friday an autopsy and investigation determined Haugen shot herself. Investigators also found evidence the body had been moved.
The sheriff said in a news release that officers believe her boyfriend, 45-year-old Michael D. Findley, was involved in moving the body.
On April 12, officers fatally shot Findley while trying to take him into custody at a Joplin motel.
He was a parole absconder for a past assault on law enforcement and had an active felony theft warrant.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSGuthrie exhibit opens April 27
TULSA - An original, handwritten version of “This Land is Your Land” will be on display next weekend at the grand opening of Tulsa’s Woody Guthrie Center.
The 12,000-square-foot center will feature exhibits on Guthrie’s life and will include Oklahoma’s only permanent exhibit on the Dust Bowl. The grand opening is set for 1 p.m.
April 27 in Tulsa.
The Guthrie exhibit will feature original items from the Woody Guthrie Archives, including lyrics, artwork, photographs, personal notebooks, letters and musical instruments.
It will also include objects from musicians influenced by Guthrie, including Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and Pete Seeger.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSSingle trial sought
for 3 homicides
KEMAH - Defense attorneys are seeking a combined trial for a man charged with killing two Weleetka girls in 2008 and his fiancee in 2011.
Attorneys for Kevin Sweat announced their intent Thursday to seek a single trial for their client. They made the announcement after Okfuskee County District Judge Lawrence Parish ruled that evidence in the Weleetka case could be used in the trial over the death of Sweat’s fiancee, Ashley Taylor.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Sweat. He’s also charged in the shooting deaths of 13-year-old Taylor Placker and 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker.
Defense attorney Wayne Woodyard told the Tulsa World that a single trial for both cases is the best way to defend Sweat. A hearing is set for May 15.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 04/20/2013