RUSSELLVILLE -- A man charged with shooting a Johnson County reserve sheriff's deputy bragged about the shooting in a note scrawled on a jail cell wall last year, according to testimony in a pretrial hearing Monday.
Pope County jail Deputy Bradley Herren testified during the pretrial hearing for Fred Kauffeld that he found written on Kauffeld's cell: "'Fred Killer Kauffeld. I shot the sheriff. I killed the deputy.' "
A document filed Friday by Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said the writing on the wall said: " 'Fred Killer Kauffeld was here 10-1-15 the man the myth the legend I shot the sheriff I killed the deputy.' "
Herren said Kauffeld was the only prisoner in that cell from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, the day the writing was discovered.
Herren testified in a hearing over Kauffeld's motions to suppress statements Kauffeld made and evidence collected after his arrest in the May 15, 2015, shooting of Reserve Deputy Sonny Smith, 42.
Circuit Judge William Pearson denied the suppression motion by Kauffeld's attorney, Bill James of Little Rock, and said he will permit the statement into evidence at trial.
He also denied motions by James to disallow physical evidence collected at the shooting scene and from Kauffeld's pickup found near the shooting scene.
Pearson said he needed more time to consider whether to allow the jail cell note to be entered as evidence. He said he was concerned about the authenticity of the note since no one witnessed Kauffeld writing it, and because of testimony that other inmates were in the cell with Kauffeld for a short time during his stay there.
Kauffeld is scheduled to go on trial May 24 in Clarksville on two counts of capital murder, two counts of attempted capital murder and burglary. Gibbons told Pearson the state is not seeking the death penalty.
James has said Kauffeld is relying on the defenses of justification and on mental disease or defect.
James told Pearson that a mental evaluation conducted by State Hospital forensic psychiatrist Samuel House concluded that Kauffeld did not suffer from a mental disease or defect, could understand the proceedings against him and had the ability to assist in the preparation of his defense.
Also, House's report said, at the time of the shooting Kauffeld did not lack the capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or the ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
Despite House's findings, James said he was going to go forward with the mental disease defense.
Kauffeld's statement was not available Monday, but the mental evaluation report included a summary of Kauffeld's statement to Arkansas State Police Investigator Mark Brice on the day he was arrested.
According to the summary, Kauffeld said his truck had broken down May 15, 2015, so he went for a walk.
Witnesses in Monday's hearing said Kauffeld's Nissan pickup was found in a field 0.2 miles north of the shooting scene. According to testimony, one front tire was low and the other one was flat.
Kauffeld said he became tired and went to sleep on the side of County Road 1723. He was wakened by '"a bunch of people with flashlights ... hollerin' to each other.'" He said he crouched behind a tree and people began shooting at him. He returned fire.
Kauffeld said someone yelled for him to throw down his weapon but he refused, calling for the people to identify themselves. He said when he heard them identify themselves as "Johnson County Police," the report said, Kauffeld surrendered.
Johnson County sheriff's auxiliary Deputy Raymond Christian testified that he and his wife, Sue, the department's K-9 team, and Smith were searching along County Road 1723 in response to a burglary call at the home of Billy Noble, who lives about 300 feet off the road.
Christian said Smith was walking down the middle of the road when he suddenly called out to "put your hands up." He said Smith did not identify himself as a deputy.
"I don't remember him saying sheriff's office. I don't think he got that far," Christian said under cross examination by James.
Christian said he could make out a heat bloom on the heat detector he was using in the search, but couldn't make out a human. According to reports, Kauffeld was hiding behind a rock.
Gunfire broke out. Christian said said he thought Kauffeld fired first because he could see the gun flashes and could hear bullets whiz and ricochet by him. He fell to the ground until the shooting stopped. After the gunfire, Smith was dead and Kauffeld had been shot in the leg.
Christian said he started yelling for the shooter to drop his weapon and that he was from the sheriff's office.
Arkansas State Police Investigator Joe Carter testified that he found at the shooting scene a .22-caliber rifle believed to belong to Kauffeld, Smith's .45-caliber pistol, several spent .45- and .22-caliber bullet casings, a plastic bucket of change and other items taken from Noble's home.
Gibbons said in court and in a court document there was evidence that, 10 days before the burglary, Kauffeld had pointed a rifle at Noble's head and threatened to kill him.
State Desk on 05/17/2016