Photo: Ryan James Lindsey
One of the people alleged to be involved in the murder of 35-year-old Cody Stradford has now been charged with being in possession of a stolen car.
The 2006 black BMW Z4 convertible was the vehicle 28-year-old Ryan James Lindsey was driving when he was arrested in the Brownsville, Texas, vicinity in mid-December.
Brownsville is about 900 miles south of Mountain Home on the Texas/Mexico border.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim reported his car missing Nov. 27 last year. The BMW had an estimated value of $18,000, according to the victim.
In addition, the victim said individuals had entered his home along Baxter County Road 635 and stolen a number of items, including a 9-mm handgun.
On Dec. 14 last year, at shortly after 7 a.m., surveillance video from the Citgo service station at the corner of Buzzard Roost Road and the Sheid-Hopper U.S. Highway 62 Bypass shows Lindsey pull up in the BMW and fuel it at one of the pumps.
Another suspect in the Stradford murder, 42-year-old Allison Cunningham, also pulled into the station in another vehicle and got gas.
Photo: Allison Cunningham
Both Lindsey and Cunningham went inside the store. Lindsey is alleged to have told the clerk he was headed to Texas.
The clerk reported asking the reason for the trip, but said Lindsey did not answer the question.
According to information provided to KTLO, Classic Hits & The Boot news by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Cunningham was driving a 2000 Hyundai Elantra, when she was picked up.
When he was questioned by Arkansas State Police investigators on March 24, Lindsey admitted having possession of the stolen car on or about Dec. 4 last year.
Lindsey said, at one point, he hid the BMW at a residence in Mountain Home “because it was stolen and everyone knew it was stolen.”
During his arrest in Texas, Lindsey is alleged to have told officials in that state he intended to trade the vehicle for a “large amount” of methamphetamine.
Lindsey is an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center, with bond set at more than $1 million. His parole on an earlier conviction has also been revoked, according to court records.
In addition to Lindsey and Cunningham, two others — 38-year-old Skylar Brazil and 35-year-old Ashley Nicole Hendricks — are charged in Stradford’s death.
Photos: Skylar Brazil and Ashley Nichole Hendricks
All the suspects are from Mountain Home except Hendricks who lives in Siloam Springs.
Only Hendricks is free. She posted bond, after it was lowered from $500,000 to $250,000, and was released.
She is required to wear an ankle monitor and to live with a relative in Northwest Arkansas.
Stradford’s body was found in a burned-out car off Old Arkana Road Dec. 16 last year.
Investigators reported the vehicle appeared to have been there for several days.
Much of the information in the case, such as how the four people charged with the murder came together or what motive might have been behind the killing, remains sealed by the court.
Charges against the four suspects include murder, arson, kidnapping and battery.
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