MAGNOLIA — The horse theft trial of Wendi Cox has been moved to Union County.
Cox is charged with theft of property over $5,000 and theft of property over $25,000 in the November 2011 theft of five horses from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
The trial is set for March 26-28 in the second-floor courtroom of the Union County Courthouse in El Dorado.
Her attorney, John Stroud of Texarkana, filed a motion Jan. 17 in Columbia County Circuit Court requesting a change of venue, maintaining that with the university’slocation in Magnolia and the amount of pretrial publicity, it was unlikely that his client could receive a fair trial in Columbia County.
Five champion rodeo horses were stolen from the university’s Mulerider Stables overnight on Nov. 2. Some of the riding tack and a trailer that were also stolen were found soon after the thefts.
Four of the five horses were found by SAU rodeo team coach Rusty Hayes and team member Ashley Mills. The horses were tied to pine trees in a rural area near Tom, Okla. Just more than three weeks after the horses were stolen, the remains of the fifth horse were found in Oklahoma.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 14 on 02/25/2013