Arkansas jail mate: Killed 2, boy said

Couple’s ward claimed all gunfire, court hearing told

In this jail photo provided by Conway, Ark., Police Department, suspect Justin Staton stands by a door in Little Rock, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015.
In this jail photo provided by Conway, Ark., Police Department, suspect Justin Staton stands by a door in Little Rock, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015.

The teenage ward of a couple killed last year in Conway told an acquaintance in juvenile jail that he was the only person to shoot Robert and Patricia Cogdell, the acquaintance testified during a court hearing Wednesday.

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The witness, Benjamin Churchwell, initially said he did not remember whether the teenager, Justin Staton, said he was the sole shooter. After reading an account of a statement he gave to investigators two months after the shooting, Churchwell testified that was the case.

"Justin Staton told me he had in fact killed them," said Churchwell, who had met Staton while in jail. "He told me he shot them with a .22"-caliber gun.

Churchwell was the final person called Wednesday on the second day of a hearing to determine whether the capital-murder case against 19-year-old Hunter Drexler should be transferred to juvenile court. Drexler and Staton are two of four teenagers whom authorities charged in the Cogdells' deaths.

The hearing is to run through Friday.

Defense attorney Patrick Benca spent the first two days of the hearing trying to minimize Drexler's role in the double homicide. Benca said he plans to finish presenting his case by midday today, when prosecutors are expected to begin calling witnesses.

Robert and Patricia Cogdell, both 66, were shot a combined 13 times in separate areas of their home in July 2015 before their bodies were placed in woods near their house, according to previous testimony. Bullet casings recovered from the home have been linked to a rifle and a handgun, both .22-caliber, according to testimony.

It hasn't been made explicitly clear in court how many bullets from each gun struck the Cogdells or how any of the four teenagers charged in the double homicide came to possess them.

Investigators recovered the rifle from the crime scene and the pistol from inside the Cogdells' truck, which investigators located at the home of Staton's relatives, witnesses testified Wednesday.

Staton lived with the Cogdells, who had been his legal guardians since 2010. The Cogdells had raised Staton as a grandson even after genetic testing proved their son was not Staton's biological father.

Staton, now 15, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after he pleaded guilty this year to two counts of first-degree murder and other felony charges in Faulkner County Circuit Court, where he was charged as an adult.

Outside of court, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Hugh Finkelstein said Staton provided evidence as part of his guilty plea that aided the investigation.

Finkelstein, who plans to argue Drexler is "just as responsible" as Staton in the Cogdells' deaths, would not describe the evidence but said he plans to introduce it during the hearing.

Connor Atchley, 18 of Greenbrier and Anastasia Roberts, 18 of Conway also were implicated in the Cogdells' deaths. Atchley has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and Roberts is awaiting trial.

Outside court, Benca said that Roberts' attorney informed Benca, Finkelstein and the judge that Roberts would plead the Fifth Amendment, which protects people from being forced to implicate themselves, if she is called to testify. Benca said Roberts would not likely be called to the stand.

Alexis Mitchell, Staton's sister, testified Wednesday that Staton, Drexler, Atchley and Roberts arrived at her house the night of the killings.

"I did something bad" were Staton's words, Mitchell testified, after he woke her from sleeping.

Mitchell said Staton did not "directly" say he killed the Cogdells. Staton, whose eyes were "puffy" at the time, said he fired one round but wasn't sure if he hit anything, Mitchell recalled.

Mitchell testified seeing what seemed to be bloodstains on Staton's clothes and shoes, which were later bagged up and turned over to police, but none on the other teenagers.

"He told me it was mud," Mitchell said.

Callie Wells, a DNA analyst at the state Crime Laboratory, testified Wednesday that Robert Cogdell's blood was found on one of Staton's shoes and his shirt.

The hearing has had the feeling a trial so far, even though it isn't, Finkelstein said. The prosecutor said he has argued in juvenile-transfer hearings before but that this one is different.

"Usually it's not a complete trial," Finkelstein said.

Close to 90 exhibits have been introduced as evidence, and 15 witness have testified through the first two days as Benca has laid out the case to transfer the hearing.

Faulkner County Circuit Judge Troy Braswell on Wednesday ruled on several objections to how evidence was introduced or testimony was elicited.

Braswell called Benca and Finkelstein to his bench, warning them to be respectful, and at times gripped a blue stress ball as he absorbed close to six hours of testimony.

Braswell will decide whether to transfer the case to juvenile court, where Drexler, 17 at the time of the shootings, would likely face a less-severe sentence if convicted.

Braswell must consider at least nine factors when making the ruling, according to Arkansas Code 9-27-318. Those factors include the "seriousness of the alleged offense," whether it was premeditated, culpability in committing or planning the offense, Drexler's previous juvenile history and whether there are programs in place to rehabilitate the defendant before his 21st birthday.

Drexler has sat at the defense table in a striped jail uniform for each of the first two days. Braswell decided before Wednesday's proceedings that Drexler's hands could be unshackled while he was in court, though cuffs remained on his legs and hips.

Benca has spent most of the hearing questioning investigators about why they made certain decisions or how they reached conclusions. He has acknowledged in court multiple times that the credibility of the investigation is linked to proving Drexler's role in the crime.

At one point, Braswell asked Benca if he was trying to "impeach" the credibility of his own witness.

"I am," Benca responded.

State Desk on 10/20/2016

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