Confirmed tornado touched down Friday in Gamaliel
A tornado has been confirmed in Baxter County from Friday night’s storm activity. The National Weather Service’s survey crew confirms an EF-1 tornado in Gamaliel.
According to the survey report, the tornado touched down Friday night at 8:45 two miles west of Gamaliel Landing. It traveled a half mile with a width of 150 yards for approximately one minute.
The EF-1 category is classified by the National Weather Service when wind speeds reach anywhere from 86 to 110 miles per hour. As a result, several trees were either snapped or uprooted with minor damage to a local church and damage to a garage and outbuilding.
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Motions filed in capital murder case
A number of motions were filed by defense attorneys Thursday in the capital murder case of Rick Headley, accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death March 13th.
Headley has pled not guilty to charges of capital murder, false imprisonment, terroristic threatening, aggravated assault, violation of a protective order and criminal trespass.
Two lawyers from the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, appointed to defend the 43-year-old Headley, appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Among the motions filed by Katherine Streett and Joe Tobler from the commission are ones asking the court to prohibit pre-trial publicity, require investigating officers to maintain any “rough notes” taken, and to prevent broadcasting, recording or photographing of the proceedings.
The motions are of the type generally filed in capital murder cases. While prosecutors have not officially announced whether they will seek the death penalty for Headley, both Streett and Tobler are “death qualified” attorneys trained to handle such cases.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, Mountain Home Police were called to the Dollar General Store on State Highway 5 South about 10 p.m. March 13th. When officers entered the store, they reported finding 38-year-old Kirstie Headley, a store employee, lying on the floor.
Rick Headley is alleged to have entered the store, grabbed his estranged wife by the shirt and dragged her outside. Witnesses told officers they saw Rick Headley with a knife in his right hand and saw him stab his estranged wife several times.
Video surveillance cameras at the store captured scenes of Kirstie Headley walking back into the store holding her chest. They reported she was covered with blood. Emergency medical personnel arrived and transported the victim to Baxter Regional Medical Center where she died a short time later.
Officers reported Rick Headley fled the scene and was captured a few hours later. He is reported to have told officers he went to his estranged wife’s place of employment with the intention of killing her and interviews with family members have since confirmed his intentions.
Kirstie Headley has filed two affidavits seeking orders of protection to keep Rick Headley away from her. In both, she mentions he had threatened her with a knife and in one instance had allegedly stabbed her in the left hip. She wrote in one of the affidavits Rick Headley had become more obsessive and controlling in the relationship.
Rick Headley was captured after a friend of his called the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office and reported Headley was at the friend’s home and wanted to surrender. Law officers converged at the address and took Headley into custody.
He is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center with no bond set. He was ordered to reappear in circuit court June 28th.
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Lawyers for Gengler want ex-wife’s testimony kept out
The attorneys representing David Gengler of Lakeview, who faces a number of charges stemming from the alleged beating, rape, torture and robbery of a female victim in 2016, have filed a motion asking the court to prohibit Gengler’s ex-wife from testifying if his current cases go to trial. Gengler is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court Thursday.
The defense attorneys list a number of reasons the testimony of the ex-wife should be kept out. They call the allegations made by the woman “extreme” and the “product of a contested divorce” more than 15 years ago.
In the motion, the defense attorneys write the state has no reason for any evidence the ex-wife might provide to prove its case and that the testimony would inflame rather than inform the jury.
The attorneys also argue the information she might provide would create “unfair prejudice” against Gengler.
The 55-year-old Gengler was initially charged with kidnapping and five counts of first-degree battery on June 1, 2016. Later in the same month, the more serious charges of rape and aggravated robbery were filed. The latter charges were based on information developed during the investigation the victim had suffered what was described as severe sexual trauma while being held against her will. It was also determined money was missing from several locations in the residence. Gengler was reported to have had a large sum of money in his wallet when he was initially booked into the county jail.
Gengler’s problems with the law began when Baxter County Deputies responded to a residence along Greenwood Avenue in Lakeview May 24, 2016 and found a badly beaten female victim. Gengler and the then 57-year-old woman shared the residence according to investigative records.
The victim was lying on the floor by the front door of the residence.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said at the time the victim had marks on her wrists and appeared to have been bound for days. She also had numerous other injuries including what were thought to be cigarette burns.
Investigators reported finding blood splattered on the walls of the residence and a large amount of duct tape with hair stuck to it on the bathroom floor. A knife and bloody cigarette butt were also found and taken into evidence.
The victim was able to make a 911 call requesting assistance. According to the Sheriff’s Office’s incident report, the victim asked for an ambulance but was initially hesitant to say why one was needed. She eventually told the 911 dispatcher, “he will kill me.” Gengler, who was at the residence, told investigators the victim was bipolar and “falls all the time”. He has denied inflicting the injuries, holding the woman against her will or having forced sexual relations with her.
Deputies had been to the home in response to an earlier domestic disturbance call on May 19th of 2016. The victim told deputies on that occasion she and Gengler had been in a heated argument over his “drinking habits.” She said Gengler had shoved her during the argument. Gengler said the disagreement had arisen over the victim’s gambling and he denied having any physical contact with her during the confrontation.
During an interview with the victim at a Springfield hospital following the second and more serious incident, she told investigators she had been bound for two-or-three days. She said Gengler taped her in an upright position and punched, beat and kicked her. The victim said Gengler also choked her and burned her with cigarettes. According to the victim, her relationship with Gengler began when he moved into her residence in October 2015 to work as a handyman.
Gengler has undergone psychological examinations to determine if he is fit to proceed in his cases. Since the cases are moving forward, it is assumed he was found fit.
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Two men facing rape or attempted rape charges headed to trial?
Two area men charged in unrelated cases with raping or attempting to rape teenage girls are both apparently headed to trial early next month, according to announcements made during a sesson of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Joshua Chambers of Mountain Home is charged with raping a 15-year-old close female relative in early May last year and Brent Atherton of Bull Shoals with the attempted rape of a 17-year-old Mountain Home girl in mid-May 2017.
The incident leading to charges being brought against Chambers was reported to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office by the girl’s grandfather who is also her legal guardian.
The victim told investigators she had been at Walmart with her boyfriend and the boyfriend’s grandmother when she received a telephone call from the 39-year-old Chambers asking her to meet with him.
The victim said she agreed, and Chambers picked her up about 5 p.m. at the store. She told investigators Chambers drove her to a remote residence she believed to have been in the Midway area.
She said when they entered the residence, they “walked straight to the bedroom” located at the very back of the house. The victim claimed after they were in the room, Chambers “forced himself” on her.
About 10 days after the incident, Baxter County investigators learned Chambers had been arrested in Oregon County, Missouri and one of them went to the Missouri jail to interview the suspect.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, Chambers has admitted arranging the meeting, picking the girl up, taking her to the residence in Midway and having sex with her. Chambers has denied forcing himself on the young girl and claims the sexual activity was the victim’s idea. At one point, Chambers is alleged to have told investigators he “knew it was wrong.”
Chambers has been in the Baxter County Jail since June 30th last year with bond set at $250,000.
The 46-year-old Atherton is alleged to have entered the home where the 17-year-old girl lived, gone to the bedroom where she was sleeping, placed himself on top of her and covered her mouth with his hands. The girl told investigators her attacker was nude.
The victim resisted and was able to scream for help. A family friend staying at the residence heard the scream and came to the girl’s aid. When confronted, Atherton fled the residence carrying some of his clothing.
Officers from the Mountain Home Police Department located Atherton running naked within approximately a quarter-mile from the residence where the alleged attack took place. He was arrested without incident.
Atherton is a Level 3 registered sex offender, meaning he is considered likely to re-offend. He was required to register after being convicted on charges of attempted rape and indecent exposure.
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One man dead after Sunday morning motorhome fire
An investigation is underway to determine how a man, who has not yet been identified, died in a fire early Sunday morning in Ozark County.
According to KY3 news, multiple fire departments responded to the blaze around 5:30 Sunday morning. When they arrived they could see smoke and there was a man trying to put out the flames with a water hose. The motor home is located on some property just off of Zastrow Drive, located off of Highway 142, east of Bakersfield.
The Bakersfield, Caulfield and Tecumseh Volunteer Fire Departments along with the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the call.
Bakersfield Firefighter Cameron Yeager says once they arrived on scene, there was a RV that had been turned into a personal home and there was a lot of smoke coming out of it. Yeager says the location of the fire made it difficult to fight. It took nearly an hour to put out the blaze that neighbors and the landowner say claimed the life of a man in his early 60’s.
Yeager says the location of the fire was difficult to get fire equipment there and limited space to maneuver due to other campers in the area.
The landowner says that the man had lived in the motor home for several years and described him as friendly, laid back and hard-working.
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