VAN BUREN -- A man arrested Sunday in Crawford County in connection with his wife's death had his first appearance in court Tuesday.
Marc McCune, county Circuit Court judge, set the bond for Eathan Alan Cypert, 28, at $1 million, according to the Circuit Clerk's Office. Cypert's arraignment will be set after Rinda Baker, prosecuting attorney, files the case in the Circuit Clerk's Office.
Baker didn't respond to a message requesting comment Tuesday.
Cypert was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder Sunday morning, according to Sheriff Jimmy Damante. He is being held at the county jail.
Damante said the Sheriff's Office received a call from a woman who lived on Arkansas 59 north of the Natural Dam unincorporated community earlier that day. The woman, whom Damante identified as Cypert's aunt, said Cypert and his wife, Christina Cypert, were fighting at the residence. However, she then called back to say the couple had left the scene, believing they had done so after going outside.
"She said she heard a couple of pops, but she thought it was fireworks, so she didn't think anything of it," Damante said.
Damante said deputies went to the home anyway in keeping with department protocol. They found Christina Cypert dead in the front yard about 2 a.m. Sunday, having apparently been shot.
It appears all three people at the home had been drinking alcohol and were intoxicated, according to Damante.
Damante said Van Buren police later took Eathan Cypert into custody without incident at a rest stop on Interstate 40. They brought him to the Sheriff's Office, where he was arrested after deputies questioned him.
The Sheriff's Office's investigation into this incident is ongoing, according to Damante.
Eathan Alan Cypert