Arkansas man accused of shooting wife while she slept in minivan in front of home

John Jeanquart
John Jeanquart

A Peel man was charged Monday with attempted murder after his wife was shot in the arm with a .410-gauge shotgun Feb. 7.

John Jeanquart, 54, shot Kimberly Jeanquart, 44, as she slept in her Chrysler minivan in front of their residence, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Monday in Marion County Circuit Court.

Kimberly Jeanquart told police her husband had been drinking, wasn't "acting right" and wasn't on his medication, so she left the residence to sleep in her vehicle.

The couple's 15-year-old daughter told deputies that John Jeanquart didn't know his wife was in the minivan when he fired at it about 3:40 a.m.

In his affidavit, Deputy William Birdsong wrote that he found four spent .410-gauge shells at the scene, the rear-window glass of the minivan shattered and two quarter-size holes in the rear "liftgate."

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Two of the spent shells were Winchester PDX1 Defender ammo, which fires three disk projectiles in addition to 12 pellets of BB shot.

John Jeanquart left the scene in a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup, which he abandoned near the Peel Ferry. He hid from police for three days, apparently going back and forth between his house to a mobile home owned by his family, and even picking up two of his dogs Feb. 9, said Capt. Joe Batterton with the Marion County sheriff's office.

On Friday, after searching the mobile home and not finding anything, Jeanquart's dogs came out of the woods with tails wagging at the deputies who had been petting them Thursday, Batterton said.

"The dogs actually came out of the woods and kind of gave him away," Batterton said of the pit bull and "cattle dog."

Besides attempted murder, John Jeanquart is charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is being held in the Marion County jail in Yellville without bail, Batterton said.

Kimberly Jeanquart was airlifted to a Springfield, Mo., hospital after the shooting but has since been released, Batterton said. He said her injuries weren't life-threatening.

Metro on 02/16/2017

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