JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Prosecutors in northeastern Arkansas say a man accused of kidnapping and killing a 90-year-old woman had become “obsessed with zombies” and wanted to know what it’d feel like to kill someone.
But an attorney representing Richard Jordan Tarver told jurors there is scant evidence connecting his client to last year’s shooting death of Lavinda Counce.
The Jonesboro Sun reports that Richard Tarver’s trial in Craighead County began this week. He is charged with kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and several theft and firearm charged. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Tarver is accused of fatally shooting Counce in July 2015. Her body was later found in a cornfield.
Police say Tarver confessed to the killing, but defense attorney Randel Miller says the confession was coerced with threats to detain Tarver’s family.
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