Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Murder Trials, Investigation Some Of Year's Top Stories

Murder trials and investigations kept county residents talking during 1998, making these topics one of the top stories of the year.

In January, Keith Buchheit, who had been charged in the beating death of Jake McKinnon in 1997, attempted to withdraw his plea of guilty and take his chances before a jury.

Buchheit based this move on the fact his attorney didn't tell him he would have to serve 70 percent of the sentence agreed upon under the terms of a plea bargain. Buchheit had accepted a 32.5-year jail term. Under the 70 percent rule, he would have to serve at least 22 years before becoming eligible for parole or any other type of early release.

He claimed his counsel at the time, Craig Henry, was ineffective. Buchheit's new attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, made the motion for a trial citing rules 26 and 37.

When put on the stand, Henry, the former counsel for Buchheit, said he wasn't familiar with Arkansas's 70 percent rule, and couldn't have advised his former client about it.

Henry also informed the court he had never given his client any advice on how much time he could face if convicted.

Buchheit, though, told the court he was under the impression he would only have to serve seven to 10 years of the bargained time instead of 22 years.

Eighth Judicial District Judge Phillip Purifoy ruled on the issue in mid-March, denying a trial for Buchheit.

In his written decision, Purifoy cited a ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court stating the defendant must show the council's performance was deficient and the performance prejudiced the defense as to depriving the defendant of a fair trial.

The question raised, Purifoy wrote, was did Buchheit's attorney, Henry, inaccurately advise his client as to parole eligibility, and if so, would the defendant have not entered a guilty plea, going to trial instead.

Basing his decision on standards already set by the Arkansas Supreme Court, Purifoy found Buchheit had failed to carry the burden of establishing ineffective counsel and the court would not set aside the plea agreement.

While Buchheit was the second of three men charged in the beating death of McKinnon, Toby Craig was the first tried and sentenced, the third, Johnny Cason, was awaiting his day in court.

Jury selection for his trial began on March 16, with a panel of nine women and three men seated to hear the case.

Eighth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Brent Haltom told the jury Cason was being tried for first degree murder, a class Y felony, carrying a sentence of no less than 10 years nor more than 40 or life in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

The case took less than a week, with the jury returning a verdict of guilty, but of manslaughter and not murder.

After both sets of attorneys gave their final arguments and the jurors were instructed by the judge, it took the panel about 90 minutes to return with the guilty verdict on the charge of manslaughter.

Once the verdict was rendered, the jurors heard more testimony as to the sentence they could give.

It took only 10 minutes for the jury to return with this decision. Cason was sentenced to 10 years in the ADC.

But, manslaughter is not a class Y felony and the 70 percent rule does not apply to the sentence.

Though getting the maximum sentence, 10 years, Purifoy informed the jury and court Cason could be considered for community punishment after serving a third of his time, which could be reduced to a sixth for good time while in the penitentiary.

With Cason getting a much lighter sentence than the other two defendants in the case, both Craig and Buchheit were appealing the outcomes of their respective court appearances.

Craig's case was immediately appealed, with no decision being reached by the end of 1998.

Buchheit also appealed Purifoy's decision to the ASC, but the state's highest court again had not decided by the close of the year.

Along with these murder cases being tried, area law enforcement agencies were busy working to solve the murder of Chester Hooker.

Hooker, 78, was brutally beaten to death Saturday, Sept. 6, 1997, with a piece of 2 by 4 lumber.

Prescott Police Chief Willie Latin said the Prescott Police Department worked on the case almost daily, but has yet to get a break.

Each and every lead, he said, had been checked and double-checked, but no clear motive for the murder has ever been established.

Latin issued a plea for information concerning the Hooker murder, no matter how trivial the information may seem. He said the informant's identity would be kept confidential, or the informant could contact the Arkansas State Police or Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

This plea remains unanswered as 1998 closed with the Hooker murder case still unsolved.