100 years ago
July 20, 1921
BERRYVILLE -- Ames Ratliff, in jail here charged with the murder on June 8 of Miss Winford Frazier, is reported to have confessed to Sheriff Ed McShane that he shot and killed the woman. "I needed money to pay off notes coming due on account of a penitentiary charge against me," Ratliff is alleged to have told the sheriff. "I entered Miss Frazier's house on the night of the murder and hid behind her dresser. When the girl came home about 11 o'clock and started to undress, I stepped out and demanded money. The girl didn't put up her hands; instead she grabbed a gun, and I fired."
50 years ago
July 20, 1971
• Dr. Richard Thomas, the state veterinarian, Monday quarantined all horses in the state to their current premises for 30 days. They can be moved only for a mandatory vaccination against Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) or for treatment of an injury. The mandatory vaccination program may begin Friday, state and federal officials said Monday.
25 years ago
July 20, 1996
• The Olympic Games may be in Atlanta this summer, but many of the events will be played out on Arkansas soil. That's because Quail Valley Farms in Little Rock will provide the sod for the infield of Olympic Stadium. The 17-year-old company that also provided the sod for War Memorial Stadium, will use 36 refrigerated trucks Sunday to ship 12,500 square yards of Meyer Z-52 Zoysia grass to Atlanta. Olympics officials [are] afraid that more than 11,000 athletes from 197 countries, 80,000 fans and 5,500 performers at Friday night's opening ceremony would destroy the grass in Olympic Stadium. Quail Valley's grass will replace it. From 1 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, the Arkansas grass will be laid out across the infield, providing the venue for such events as the discus throw, the shot put and the javelin throw. "
10 years ago
July 20, 2011
JONESBORO -- DNA testing on shoes from one of the three West Memphis boys killed in 1993 found evidence of two unidentified males, but none from the men convicted in their slayings, according to a testing status report filed in Craighead County Circuit Court by defense attorneys. The testing is part of new evidence that attorneys for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley claim should be grounds for new trials for the three. Echols was convicted of capital murder in Craighead County Circuit Court in 1994 and sentenced to die for the deaths of 8-year-old Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch and Michael Moore. Baldwin and Misskelley were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.