A man who was twice tried but never convicted in the 2005 beating death of beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer has been arrested in an attempted kidnapping case. The Russellville Police Department said in a statement that officers arrested Gary Dunn, 39, on Tuesday.
Officers said they responded about 7:40 p.m. to the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in the 200 block of South Denver Avenue to investigate a possible kidnapping attempt. When police arrived, the suspect had already left the scene, but the victim and witness a provided a description of both the suspect and his vehicle, which was broadcast to surrounding agencies.
The victim, a 40-year-old woman, told officers a man approached her in the parking lot and attempted to force her into her vehicle. The victim said that she was able to break free, and the man then left the area by vehicle.
Police said officers were already investigating another incident that occurred on the campus of Arkansas Tech University at about 7:20 p.m. where a female was approached by a suspect who asked her to step out of her vehicle. The female called 911, and the suspect left. The suspect and the vehicle description were similar in both cases.
Police said in the statement that the suspect was identified as Dunn and that he was located in a vehicle matching the suspect description. Officials with the Russellville Police Department confirmed that Dunn is the same person who was tried twice in the 2005 death of Dirksmeyer. Both trials ended with the jury unable to reach a consensus.
Dirksmeyer, a former beauty queen, was found beaten to death in her Russellville apartment in 2005. Dunn was the second person to face charges in the death. Dirksmeyer's boyfriend, Kevin Jones, was acquitted of the crime in 2007.
Defense attorneys during Dunn's trials questioned DNA evidence said to link Dunn to the scene and argued throughout the trial that Jones was more likely the real killer.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Dunn raped or tried to rape Dirksmeyer, his neighbor, before beating her to death.
NW News on 12/06/2018