Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Trial to Begin Nov. 2 For Murder Of Spouse

Linda McKinney will appear at her murder one trial on Nov. 22, wearing street clothes and unshackled.

These were conditions granted by the court during a pre-trial hearing Monday, Nov. 8.

McKinney's attorney, David Price of Magnolia, also asked the court to have the jury answer an in-depth questionnaire, but 8th Judicial Circuit District Judge Jim Gunter denied this request.

Randy Wright, prosecuting attorney for the 8th district, said the jury would be answering many of these questions on the normal questionnaire, and Price could ask them any others during jury selection.

Price also requested the jury pool be sequestered during the voir dire segment of the trial, but Gunter denied this outright saying he wasn't going to allow it.

A final request by the defense was to have background checks done on all witnesses the state plans to call to see if any have prior felonies.

Wright said if the state has any information on witness backgrounds, it will be provided to the defense.

McKinney faces the murder charge in the shooting death of her husband, Jimmy, on May 28, 1999.

According to court records, McKinney called the Nevada County Sheriff's Office around 5:30 p.m. of the day in question, saying she had shot her husband.

When officers arrived, they saw he had been shot at least twice and called the Nevada County Ambulance Service. Jimmy McKinney was transported to St. Michael's Hospital in Texarkana, where he was pronounced dead.

Linda McKinney told officers she and her husband had been arguing on and off most of the day.

She said he had threatened her several times throughout the day, and when the argument escalated he got a gun from the bedroom.

The two reportedly wrestled for the weapon on the living room floor, with it going off several times, McKinney told officers, and Jimmy McKinney being shot at least twice, according to her statement.

She said when he was shot in the leg, he quit fighting, but she didn't recall him being shot in the chest, though McKinney told officers she remembered the gun going off several times.

Further investigation showed the weapon had been fired at least five times, with Jimmy

McKinnon being hit three times.

She told officers she had been in control of the butt of the .22 caliber rifle, but didn't remember pulling the trigger.

A residue test was taken of her hands to see if she had, in fact, fired the weapon.

J. McKinney's body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab in Little Rock for autopsy on June 1, 1999.

The state medical examiner called the NCSO, saying J. McKinney had been shot at least three times, and shot in the back as well.

According to court records, J. McKinney had been shot in the left leg, upper area of the left chest and in the back.

It was the wound to the back which led to McKinney being charged with first degree murder. The medical examiner's report stated the bullet had traveled through a foreign object before striking him.

Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell obtained a search warrant, went back to the McKinney house and seized a brown chair from the living room.

The chair, upon examination, appeared to have a hole in it as if a shot had been fired at it.

Officers also recovered five spent .22 caliber shells from the scene, along with a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle.

McKinney's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, Nov. 22.