Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Convicted For Convenience Store Murder

By JOHN MILLER

It's been a long eight years for the survivors of those murdered by Kirt Wainwright.

But, finally, closure is near. Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has set Wainwright's execution date as Jan. 8, 1997. He was originally convicted and sentenced to die by lethal injection March 8, 1989 by a Nevada County jury. No time for the injection was given in a notice from the governor's office.

However, an application for executive clemency has been made in Wainwright's behalf.

Wainwright, 30, of Prescott, was convicted of murdering Barbara Smith, 38, on July 29, 1988, while robbing the Best Stop convenience store.

During the robbery, Wainwright took a Bank of Prescott money bag, but shot Smith in the head with a small caliber weapon before leaving the store. She died July 31, 1988, from wounds received in the shooting.

A female witness saw him leaving the store with a small blue steel pistol in his hand. A second witness saw Wainwright run from the store to the Social Services building, where he got into a pink-colored 1975 Cadillac and left.

According to records, Wainwright, with two other men in the car, stopped at Prescott Motor Co. where they bought gasoline.

The attendant, following an inquiry by the Prescott Police Department after the July 28 murder of Karen Ross, a Hope convenience store clerk, took down the Cadillac's license plate number, reporting it to the police. Authorities were notified the vehicle was last seen heading south on Highway 67 toward Hope.

Less than 45 minutes after Smith was shot, Wainwright and the other two men in the car, were in custody. They were stopped and arrested in the VFW parking lot in Hope by the Hope Police Department and Arkansas State Police.

Andrew Woods and Dennis Leeper were in the vehicle with Wainwright, and were subsequently charged in Smith's murder.

When officers stopped the car, Leeper and Woods were in the front seat, while Wainwright was in the back seat with a Bank of Prescott money bag and a .22 caliber Colt revolver. Records show the revolver had three live rounds and one spent shell. The bank bag contained $364 in cash. Checks taken in the robbery were later recovered as well.

Witnesses identified the Cadillac as the one seen at Best Stop at the time of the murder, and Wainwright as the man they saw leaving the scene of the crime.

Following his arrest, he allegedly confessed to then-Nevada County Sheriff Bob Cockman of being a member of the Los Angeles street gang, the Blood, while in custody.

Each time Wainwright was scheduled to appear in court, security was tight. In fact, a metal detector was placed at the front doors of the Nevada County courtroom visitors had to pass through before they could enter.

A jury of 12 people found Wainwright guilty of capital murder in Smith's slaying, sentencing him to death by lethal injection.

Prior to the trial, though, Wainwright had undergone a psychiatric evaluation, where he was found to have abused cocaine, but was capable of participating in the trial on his own behalf.

His court-appointed attorney, Jim Pedigo, sought a change of venue because of pre-trial publicity, but this was denied by Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Philip Purifoy, the presiding judge in the case.

Pedigo, who had filed 26 different motions in the case, was removed as Wainwright's attorney and replaced by Edward Cochran and David Malaby, who continued filing motions to get the case dismissed, moved and the charges changed.

Douglas A. Stevens, a clinical psychologist, examined Wainwright on Feb. 16, 1989, and wrote the court a letter with his findings.

According to Stevens, Wainwright suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is a sign of mental defect. He wrote Wainwright had been referred to the Mental Health Center in Hope when he was 12 for this problem.

Stevens informed the court the jury needed to be told of this disorder so Wainwright could get a fair trial, because, as the psychologist stated, ADHD compromised Wainwright's ability to conform to the requirements of law and handle himself in a socially appropriate manner.

He also stated Wainwright's cocaine habit had an impact on the suspect's behavior, and said Wainwright suffered frequent episodes of paranoid ideation with visual and auditory hallucinations and was susceptible to delusions.

Stevens suggested professional help for Wainwright, but the court stayed with the findings of the Arkansas Department of Health's Mental Health Division findings, which stated Wainwright was capable of knowing right from wrong and acting accordingly.

Following the conviction on March 8, 1989, and Wainwright being sentenced to die, a series of appeals were made on his behalf.

The case was initially appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, where the justices upheld the conviction.

Cochran and Malaby were removed as Wainwright's attorneys, and another appeal was made stating he had ineffectual legal counsel.

This, too, was denied, with the sentence staying in place.

Wainwright has not been a model prisoner while in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Several months ago, he was involved in an incident in which he stabbed two guards -- both survived.

Now, after eight long years, Wainwright has run out of appeals and his death sentence is finally scheduled to be carried out.