Former police chief, serving murder and rape sentences, escapes from Arkansas prison
Grant Hardin, the former police chief of the tiny town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, where he has been held since 2017. Corrections officials did not provide any details about how he escaped.
The Division of Correction and the Division of Community Correction are following leads with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton. According to an affidavit filed in the case, Appleton worked for the Gateway water department and was talking to his brother-in-law, then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017 near Garfield. Police found Appleton's body inside a car.
Hardin, who was Gateway's police chief for about four months in early 2016, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers north of Fayetteville.
KFSM-TV, reporting on his guilty plea in 2019, wrote that police used DNA samples from the crime scene to apply for a John Doe Warrant in 2003 as the statute of limitations neared. The DNA was tested against old and new profiles, and investigators got a match when Hardin was imprisoned for killing Appleton.
The Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
American sprinter Fred Kerley provisionally suspended for anti-doping 'whereabouts failures'
MONACO (AP) — U.S. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley has been provisionally suspended for 'whereabouts failures' under the sport's anti-doping rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Tuesday. Lawyers for the 30-year-old Kerley hit back in a statement posted on the athlete's account on X. 'Fred Kerley has already notified the AIU that he intends to contest the allegation that he has violated the anti-doping rules related to whereabouts failures, as he strongly believes that one of (or) more of his alleged missed tests should be set aside either because he was not negligent or because the Doping Control Officer did not do what was reasonable under the circumstances to locate him at his designated location,' the statement said. It added: 'Fred will not comment further at this time out of respect for the process, and looks forward to presenting his case to the appointed hearing panel.' Kerley won the Olympic silver medal in the 100 meters at the Tokyo Games and the bronze in Paris last year. He has also earned six medals at the track and field world championships. 'You can try to break me in the storm, but all you're doing is giving me a better story at the finish line,' Kerley later posted on the same account. In May, Kerley was charged in Florida with punching a woman, a hurdler who also competed in the Olympics. That came just a few months after he was arrested for allegedly punching a Miami Beach police officer on Jan. 2, an incident in which police used a Taser on him. His lawyers say Kerley is innocent of those charges. ___ AP sports: The Associated Press
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
American sprinter Fred Kerley provisionally suspended for anti-doping 'whereabouts failures'
MONACO (AP) — U.S. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley has been provisionally suspended for 'whereabouts failures' under the sport's anti-doping rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Tuesday. Lawyers for the 30-year-old Kerley hit back in a statement posted on the athlete's account on X. 'Fred Kerley has already notified the AIU that he intends to contest the allegation that he has violated the anti-doping rules related to whereabouts failures, as he strongly believes that one of (or) more of his alleged missed tests should be set aside either because he was not negligent or because the Doping Control Officer did not do what was reasonable under the circumstances to locate him at his designated location,' the statement said. It added: 'Fred will not comment further at this time out of respect for the process, and looks forward to presenting his case to the appointed hearing panel.' Kerley won the Olympic silver medal in the 100 meters at the Tokyo Games and the bronze in Paris last year. He has also earned six medals at the track and field world championships. 'You can try to break me in the storm, but all you're doing is giving me a better story at the finish line,' Kerley later posted on the same account. In May, Kerley was charged in Florida with punching a woman, a hurdler who also competed in the Olympics. That came just a few months after he was arrested for allegedly punching a Miami Beach police officer on Jan. 2, an incident in which police used a Taser on him. His lawyers say Kerley is innocent of those charges. ___ AP sports:
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
American sprinter Fred Kerley provisionally suspended for anti-doping 'whereabouts failures'
MONACO (AP) — U.S. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley has been provisionally suspended for 'whereabouts failures' under the sport's anti-doping rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Tuesday. Lawyers for the 30-year-old Kerley hit back in a statement posted on the athlete's account on X. 'Fred Kerley has already notified the AIU that he intends to contest the allegation that he has violated the anti-doping rules related to whereabouts failures, as he strongly believes that one of (or) more of his alleged missed tests should be set aside either because he was not negligent or because the Doping Control Officer did not do what was reasonable under the circumstances to locate him at his designated location,' the statement said. It added: 'Fred will not comment further at this time out of respect for the process, and looks forward to presenting his case to the appointed hearing panel.' Kerley won the Olympic silver medal in the 100 meters at the Tokyo Games and the bronze in Paris last year. He has also earned six medals at the track and field world championships. 'You can try to break me in the storm, but all you're doing is giving me a better story at the finish line,' Kerley later posted on the same account. In May, Kerley was charged in Florida with punching a woman, a hurdler who also competed in the Olympics. That came just a few months after he was arrested for allegedly punching a Miami Beach police officer on Jan. 2, an incident in which police used a Taser on him. ___
