The murder trial of 46-year-old Dusty Wheeler will not be held next week as planned and has been put over until May.
Defense attorneys were reported to have needed more time to address issues with information provided in the discovery process.
About 25 witnesses had been subpoenaed by the state and prospective jurors had been summoned to appear.
The trial was expected to take at least three days to try, according to estimates provided to the court.
Wheeler was arrested June 14, 2024, after Mountain Home Police were called to a residence along Sunny Ann Lane about 6 a.m. where they found a woman’s body seated in a lawn chair outside the home. The victim was identified as then 36-year-old Heather Bradford. The body was reported to have been cold and showing no cardiac rhythm when Baxter Health paramedics arrived on scene.
It was reported the victim had been shot in the head. An entry wound was found on the top left side of the victim’s head behind her ear and an exit wound located on the bottom right side of the head behind the ear.
Wheeler, who was found inside the residence asleep on the couch, was arrested and charged with first degree murder. He entered a not guilty plea to the murder charge during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division held shortly after his arrest.
He is free on $500,000bond. He was at one time under house arrest at his mother’s residence in the small Independence County community of Newark. The original conditions were modified during the pre-trial period so Wheeler could hold down a job. The other conditions remained in effect.
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