BENTONVILLE -- Prosecutors charged Don Yates today with capital murder in the killing of 58-year-old Patrick Quinley of Rogers.
Yates, 53, is also charged with aggravate robbery and theft of property. He is being held without bond in the Benton County Jail.
Don Yates could be sentenced if convicted of capital murder to life in prison without the benefit of parole or the death penalty. He could be sentenced from 10 to 40 years or life in prison if convicted of aggravated robbery. The theft charge Yates is facing is punishable with a prison sentence ranging from three to 10 years.
Quinley's body was found Sept. 25 in his home at 53 W. Alton Circle by Rogers police officers after a co-worker reported he had not been to work since Sept. 21.
Dr. Adam Craig with the Arkansas Crime Laboratory determined blunt force trauma to the head, caused Quinley's death, according to court documents.
Prosecutors charged Yates with capital murder under two categories: the killing occurred during the commission of an aggravated robbery, and Yates acted with premeditation and deliberation.
Police could not find Quinley's credit cards and cellphone, and his Ford F-150 pickup was missing.
Quinley had filed a report with Rogers police earlier in September claiming Yates had taken his pickup. He got the pickup and an iPhoneX from Yates after Yates was arrested in Colorado, the affidavit said. Quinley had recently been in a relationship with Yates, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Yates' brother, Ralph Yates, told police his brother arrived at his home Sept. 21 and was driving a Budget rental truck. The brothers drove to an area about an hour and half from Mountain Home, he said. Later, he said it was somewhere in Mountain Home, and they dropped the rental truck off in Jonesboro, the affidavit said.
Ralph Yates told police his brother kept asking to check the news in a town that started with an "R," and at one point said, "They found the body," according to the affidavit. Ralph Yates said he didn't know who Don Yates was referring to and he didn't ask, the affidavit said.
The F-150 was found behind Ralph Yates' home in Salem in Fulton County. Police found Quinley's iPhoneX in a backpack and his wallet in a storage tub inside the home, the affidavit said. A white T-shirt with suspected blood stains was found in a trash can, the affidavit said.
A neighbor in Rogers told police he saw a white man in his 30s with short brown hair at Quinley's residence Sept. 23. The neighbor said he saw the man with a Budget rental box truck. The neighbor said he later saw the man leave the home and sound the alarm on the F-150 with a key-less remote. The neighbor told police the man appeared to try and hide when he was spotted.
Yates' arraignment is scheduled for Monday in Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green's courtroom.
NW News on 11/21/2018