Hot Springs police have now identified all three victims of a triple homicide whose bodies were found last week in a Nevada Street residence following a welfare check.
Police on Tuesday identified two of the victims as Dory Ann Power, 46, and Brenda Sue Lawson, 60, both of Hot Springs, based on positive identification by the state crime lab. Police released the name of the third victim, Paul D. Power, 40, on Monday.
The Powers and Lawson were found at around 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5 inside a residence at 208 Nevada St. after police received information from a witness. Detectives responded to the scene and began a homicide investigation and the next day, Nicholas Matthew Lewondowski, 34, of Hot Springs, was arrested on three counts of capital murder.
Lewondowski, who was on parole at the time of the murders, pleaded not guilty to all three counts Friday in Garland County District Court via video from the Garland County Detention Center where he is being held without bond. If convicted on the charges, he could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
A gag order limiting pretrial publicity in the case was issued Friday and a drug test was ordered for Lewondowski. A felony review hearing is set for Jan. 22 when the case will likely be bound over to Garland County Circuit Court.
Lewondowski allegedly asked the witness for help in disposing of the bodies and nailed the doors shut at the Nevada Street residence, reportedly telling the witness he "would just burn the residence down."
The witness said Lewondowski and three of his friends had visited him at his residence on Dec. 4. At one point, Lewondowski and the three others got into an argument about one member of the group stealing from another member, he said, and Lewondowski got agitated with all three of them.
Lewondowski and the three victims reportedly drove to the Nevada Street residence and later Lewondowski called the witness and told him he had killed the three and needed his help moving the victims' vehicles to different locations.
When police responded to the residence, they reportedly found the rear door standing open and found the bodies of the three victims inside lying in pools of blood. The affidavit did not indicate the manner of death.
Lewondowski has a lengthy criminal history dating back 15 years with more than 14 prior felony convictions, including a conviction for second-degree battery in 2003. He was charged with first-degree battery on Aug. 27, 2016, involving an attack on a fellow inmate at the jail, but the charge was later withdrawn for further investigation.
Local on 12/13/2017