FAYETTEVILLE — A bitter divorce prompted a West Fork woman to build a bomb as part of a plot to murder her husband, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said Friday.
Shirley Mugley, 40, of 14020 S. Arkansas 265, faces felony charges in connection with conspiracy to commit capital murder, criminal use of a prohibited weapon and criminal use of explosives.
Also arrested was Andrew Cox, 20, of 850 S. Silverado Drive in Fayetteville in connection with felony criminal use of a prohibited weapon. An arrest report identifies Cox as Mugley’s boyfriend.
Washington County Sheriff's Office deputies investigated a report April 20 of an explosive device found by a fisherman in a creek off Kettle Springs Road near Hogeye. Members of the Bentonville Bomb Squad determined the device was a pipe bomb with a cellphone strapped to it.
Helder said members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in identifying the bomb.
“It was a working device that could have caused significant damage,” Helder said. “Having been in the water, it was rendered useless.”
Washington County divorce records state the Mugleys married April 20, 2001, separated in December and divorced in May. Helder said the Mugleys have three daughters ages 8, 13, and 21.
Helder said investigators identified Mugley as a “person of interest,” based on video surveillance, domestic history and cellphone information.
Cox disclosed a plot to murder Mugley’s husband, Michael, by putting a bomb on a car he drove, according to the arrest report.
Investigators said Cox accompanied Mugley when she bought material to make the device. Video surveillance revealed Shirley Mugley bought a cellphone at Walmart matching the description of the cellphone attached to the bomb, according to the report.
Cox said Mugley built the device in the basement of her home, according to the report. Helder said Mugley learned how to make the bomb by watching a video on YouTube. He said she made the bomb using a Christmas light, which would have been used to ignite the bomb.
“It was made so that it could be remotely detonated,” Helder said. “We believe it was in the creek for a few days before it was found.”
Cox planned to attach the bomb to Michael Mugley’s car, he said, but “chickened out” and threw the bomb into the creek, Helder said.
During a recorded phone call, Shirley Mugley discussed details regarding the bomb and the conspiracy to murder Michael Mugley, according to a report. Investigators searched her home Thursday and seized items consistent with making a bomb.
Helder said deputies have been called to the Mugleys’ home several times.
At A Glance
Pipe Bombs
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, which can consist of a variety of components that include an initiator, switch, main charge, power source and a container. It may also include additional materials such as nails, glass, or metal fragments designed to increase the amount of shrapnel propelled by the explosion. Pipe bombs can be initiated by a variety of methods depending on the intended target.
Source: Department of Homeland Security
“Especially when they separated and during the process of their divorce,” he said. “She was never satisfied with our response and she became infuriated toward the end of the process. At some point, she was so full of hatred and anger that she wanted him out of the picture.”
According to a divorce complaint filed by Michael Mugley in January, the couple allowed Cox to move into their home in spring 2012. Helder said Cox was a friend of the couple’s oldest daughter. After he moved in, Cox began having an affair with Shirley Mugley, he said.
Divorce records reveal Michael Mugley was granted primary custody of their children and Shirley Mugley was granted supervised visitation twice a month. Shirley Mugley also was ordered to pay $76 in child support per week, according to court records.
John Karnes, superintendent for the West Fork School District, said Shirley Mugley worked as a substitute teacher for one day during the 2012-13 school year. He said Shirley Mugley passed the same background and maltreatment screening required of all district employees.
Mugley was being held Friday in the Washington County Detention Center on $50,000 bond. Cox was released after posting $5,000 bail.
Earlier this month, an Elkins woman pleaded not guilty in Benton County to charges she attempted to hire someone to kill her ex-husband. Teri Lea Baber, 58, was charged with criminal solicitation to commit murder in the first degree. She is out of jail on $10,000 bond.