The second of three suspects charged in connection with the 2013 stabbing death of a 71-year-old Jessieville man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.
Robert William Glover Jr., 18, of Jessieville, had pleaded guilty Monday in circuit court to first-degree murder for the July 9, 2013, death of Dan Roberson, but prosecutors waited until Wednesday for the sentencing hearing so members of Roberson's family could attend.
One accomplice, Ethan Patrick Sallee, 20, was convicted of the same charge Jan. 21 after a two-day trial in circuit court and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The third alleged accomplice, Chestly Wayne Gaston Jr., 22, whom prosecutors have contended was the one who actually stabbed and choked the victim, is set to appear Monday for a mental evaluation hearing since he previously pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said Wednesday that, depending on the outcome of Monday's hearing, a trial date would be set for Gaston likely in April or May of this year.
Appearing with his attorney, public defender Ron Kelsay, Glover answered "yes, sir" and "no, sir" at the brief hearing, during which Judge John Homer Wright told him he would be given credit for time served, a total of 564 days since his arrest July 13, 2013, and that the plea agreement was contingent upon his agreeing to testify against Gaston at his trial.
Graham noted after the hearing that it would likely depend on whether Sallee intended to appeal his sentence as to whether he would subpoena him as a witness. If he decided to appeal, he could claim his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, although Graham noted they could offer him immunity for his testimony.
"I don't know if he plans to appeal or not," Graham said, noting Sallee could risk getting more prison time if he did. "We will talk to him about it."
Valerie Abernathy, Roberson's niece, said after the hearing the family understood the purpose behind the plea agreement with Glover and that his testimony could potentially help to convict Gaston.
"That's what hurts so bad," she said, noting Gaston lived just four or five houses down from her uncle. "He was a neighborhood kid. My uncle probably took him fishing."
Abernathy said Wednesday's hearing was "just another part of the healing process since Uncle Dan was taken away. We're just trying to get justice for him."
She and other family members gathered noted the heartbreaking thing was that Roberson "would have given them money if they had just asked him."
Abernathy said, "My uncle worked hard for his money. He retired from Weyerhaeuser. There was just no reason for this. It was a senseless murder. He was the kind of neighbor you would want to have."
According to previous reports, Roberson was reported missing July 9, 2013, by his family and after an extensive search his body was found July 13 beside a remote road in northern Garland County. That same day, Glover, then 17, and Sallee, then 18, were each charged with capital murder in connection with his death. Gaston was arrested three days later in Texas.
Glover and Sallee were questioned and stated that on July 9 the three had followed Roberson home to his residence on Blakely Camp Road where Gaston strangled Roberson and loaded him into the bed of the victim's pickup.
Gaston and Sallee took the pickup to a wooded area off Main Haul Road as Glover followed in a car the three of them had stolen the previous night on Fox Pass Road. They stated they abandoned the stolen car there and the three of them then drove Roberson's pickup to another wooded area where Gaston stabbed Roberson. They then drove to another wooded area and dumped Roberson's body on the edge of an old logging road.
They stated the two of them returned to Glover's residence and removed the toolbox from Roberson's pickup. They then visited several businesses around Hot Springs spending money Gaston took from the victim's pocket.
The suspects said they then fled to Texas with Gaston in Roberson's pickup, and Gaston later abandoned them with instructions to return the vehicle to Arkansas. The two admitted to returning to Arkansas in Roberson's vehicle and dumping it and burning it in on Highway 67, south of Gurdon, in Clark County.
Local on 01/29/2015