Jurors in the witness-tampering and drug-conspiracy trial of two men accused in the death of a federal witness heard from an ex-girlfriend of one of the defendants and the FBI agent who oversaw the investigation in 2016 and 2017.
Donald Bill Smith, 37, of Malvern and Samuel Sherman, 38, of Batesville were indicted in September 2019 on several charges in the shooting death of 44-year-old Suzen Cooper. The indictment charges the men with conspiracy to commit witness tampering causing death. In addition, the indictment charges Smith with killing Cooper to prevent her from testifying against Sherman. It also accuses Smith and Sherman of conspiring between January 2007 and November 2016 to possess with the intent to distribute, and distributing, methamphetamine and cocaine, and of brandishing a firearm -- a .22-caliber gun -- in relation to a drug-trafficking crime that led to murder.
Smith is represented by Blake Hendrix and Annie Depper. Sherman is represented by Jeff Rosenzweig and Birc Morledge. Prosecuting the case are assistant U.S. attorneys Anne Gardner and Bart Dickinson.
Cooper, who federal officials said was a confidential informant at the time of her death, was last seen on Sept. 26, 2016, in Malvern and was reported missing shortly after. Her skeletal remains were discovered in early August 2018 in a field off Grigsby Ford Road, a few miles west of Malvern.
She had been scheduled to testify against Sherman at a hearing in federal court after he was arrested on May 16, 2016, for selling methamphetamine while he was out of prison on supervised release. Federal prosecutors contend that Smith killed Cooper at Sherman's behest to prevent her testimony.
The defense attorneys have said that Sherman already had decided to plead guilty, meaning he would have avoided a trial, negating the need for Cooper to testify.
In February 2017, Suzen Cooper's former sister-in-law, Racheal Cooper, was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded guilty in August 2018 to a reduced charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution. She was sentenced in Hot Spring County Circuit Court to 25 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections but was released on parole in January. She testified Monday that she had driven Suzen Cooper to the Grigsby Ford Road site near where her body was later found and that she saw Smith shoot Suzen Cooper several times.
On Tuesday, Jimmy Porter, the owner of the property, testified that Smith forced him to bury Suzen Cooper's body where she was found two years later.
On Thursday, FBI agent Jerry Spurgers, testified to how the investigation unfolded as the FBI was called in to assist the Drug Enforcement Administration and authorities in Hot Spring County and Malvern in the days after Suzen Cooper was reported missing.
Although Smith and Sherman were identified as the primary suspects, Hendrix asked Spurgers about other possible perpetrators. Hendrix said that Suzen Cooper had acted as an informant in the cases of some 25 or 30 people, several of whom were known to have threatened her.
"Did you subpoena the phone records of those 25 to 30 people?" Hendrix asked.
"No," Spurgers answered, "we did not."
Spurgers said preliminary searches failed to yield positive results.
"Between Hot Springs, Malvern, FBI and the DEA, you cast a pretty broad net to kind of look and I would say kick every rock," said Dickinson. "Would that be fair to say?"
"I would say so," Spurgers said.
"So you kicked all the rocks up and you get a lot of stuff, correct?" Dickinson asked.
"I reckon," Spurgers answered.
Dickinson noted that phone data was used to assist authorities in zeroing in on Smith, Sherman and Racheal Cooper and that no phone data linked any other potential suspects as close to the crime as them. Also, Dickinson noted that because Suzen Cooper's blood was found in the truck Racheal Cooper was driving when Suzen Cooper disappeared, greater weight was given to her information.
"That's true," Spurgers said.
Parris Davis, Smith's former girlfriend, testified that the two had an often rocky relationship, which ended after she became pregnant and discovered that two other women also were carrying Smith's children.
Hendrix pointed out that Davis, in interviews with the FBI, had lied to agents about Smith's treatment, according to a neighbor of Davis'.
"Parris said to you, 'Don had been violent toward me and you could confirm that by interviewing a woman named Jennifer Christopher,'" Hendrix said. "Do you remember that?"
"I do remember," Spurgers said.
"And Jennifer Christopher said 'that's just a lie,' didn't she?" Hendrix asked.
"She denied that, yes," Spurgers said.
Spurgers said that Davis had been provided with about $16,000 in 2018 to help her move and that she had requested another $20,000, which had been approved just that morning. Hendrix pointed out that a $20,000 reward offered for information in Suzen Cooper's death has not yet been claimed, making it possible that Davis could make a claim for it.
Testimony continues this morning beginning at 8:30 regarding phone records linking Suzen Cooper to Smith, Sherman and Racheal Cooper in the days immediately before the death of Suzen Cooper.