Jury finds man innocent in Fort Smith homicide

FORT SMITH -- A Sebastian County Circuit Court jury Thursday acquitted a man of first-degree murder in the strangulation death last year of a Fort Smith woman in her home.

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for 31/2 hours Thursday before finding Kevyphonh Songyaphong, 60, innocent in the killing of 50-year-old Sakounsouk Vilayhong on Jan. 24, 2013.

The jury began deliberating at 9 a.m. Thursday after attorneys completed closing arguments Wednesday afternoon. The jury returned its verdict about 12:30 p.m.

Songyaphong, flanked by his attorneys, smiled as Circuit Judge J. Michael Fitzhugh dismissed the jury after the verdict. Songyaphong bowed toward jurors when Fitzhugh thanked them for their service during the four-day trial.

"You're a free man, Mr. Songyaphong," Fitzhugh told Songyaphong, who spent nearly 13 months in the Sebastian County jail awaiting trial on the murder charge.

Several members of Songyaphong's family hugged and cried after the verdict was delivered.

"It's been a long ride," a family member told Songyaphong's attorney Bill James of Little Rock.

Outside the courthouse, one family member hugged a male juror who dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief.

Songyaphong's family declined to comment after court Thursday.

James said he regretted what happened to Vilayhong, "but we're glad the jury saw it as we did," he said.

The trial was the second on the murder charge against Songyaphong. His first trial in April was declared a mistrial because jurors were exposed to information during deliberations that wasn't presented by attorneys.

Deputy prosecutor Aaron Jennen argued to jurors that Songyaphong was guilty of murdering Vilayhong because a hair of his was found on the clothing she was wearing when she died, the lies police say he told about his whereabouts and actions that day, and his proximity to the Vilayhong home around the time of her death.

But James argued that the hair, the lies and his nearness to the home were not enough evidence to prove that Songyaphong killed Vilayhong.

Vilayhong's husband, Somdy, testified during the trial that he found his wife's body facedown on the living room floor when he returned home from work Jan. 24, 2013.

He and first responders noticed ligature marks on her neck that a state associate medical examiner later determined were associated with strangulation. He ruled the death a homicide.

Somdy Vilayhong initially was the main suspect in his wife's death after investigators discovered that Sakounsouk Vilayhong had a gambling problem that was causing strain within the family.

But Somdy Vilayhong and other family members had alibis that eliminated them as suspects, and the investigation stalled.

Case detective Adam Creek went to the Rheem Manufacturing plant in Fort Smith where Sakounsouk Vilayhong worked to interview co-workers in hopes of stirring up new leads.

Creek reported interviewing Songyaphong, who said he didn't know Sakounsouk Vilayhong other than from work and seeing her at the Choctaw Casino in Pocola, Okla. He didn't know where she lived and had never been to her home, he said.

Songyaphong also reportedly told Creek in that first interview that he was not at the casino the day Sakounsouk Vilayhong died. According to surveillance video, she was at the casino from 8:52 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. Jan. 24, 2013.

After talking with Sakounsouk Vilayhong's daughter, Tina, Creek learned that Songyaphong had known the family for years and had been to the Vilayhong home multiple times.

In a follow-up interview, Songyaphong admitted knowing the family and being at the casino Jan. 24, 2013, but said he arrived at 9 a.m. that day and didn't leave until 5 a.m. the next day.

But cellphone records placed Songyaphong near Vilayhong's north Fort Smith home around the time of her death, according to trial evidence.

Investigators also reported finding a hair on the clothing that Vilayhong was wearing when she died that a forensic DNA examiner for the state Crime Laboratory said belonged to Songyaphong.

State Desk on 09/13/2014

Upcoming Events