The second of three suspects charged in the 2019 murder and robbery of a Hot Springs woman was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.
April Nicole Osborne, 26, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder, amended from an original charge of capital murder, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. She was also sentenced to 20 years on one count of aggravated robbery. The two sentences will run consecutively, for a total of 60 years, for the Oct. 18, 2019, murder of Laura Ann Dickerson, 58, who was found dead in her home at 208 Linwood St.
One accomplice, Isabelle Marcial-Talley, 2o, also of Hot Springs, had pleaded guilty to the same charges in April and was sentenced to 40 years for first-degree murder and 10 years for aggravated robbery, to run consecutively for a total of 50 years in prison.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kara Petro said Thursday both will have to serve 70% of their sentences before they are eligible for parole, so Osborne will have to serve at least 42 years and Marcial-Talley will have to serve at least 35 years, so "it's effectively life" for them.
Petro noted neither Osborne nor Marcial-Talley had any prior criminal history. She said the original charge of capital murder was amended because the circumstances didn't qualify it for the death penalty, so it would automatically be a penalty of life in prison, which neither Osborne nor Marcial-Talley would have agreed to in a plea.
A third accomplice, Dillon Wayne Orrell, 33, of Hot Springs, is still facing trial on the original charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery. Petro noted a gag order limiting pretrial publicity previously issued in the case still remains in place until after the trial of Orrell, so she was limited in what she could say about the plea negotiations or the case itself.
Osborne, Marcial-Talley and Orrell were all arrested on Oct. 19, 2019, the day after Dickerson was found, and each has remained in custody since then in lieu of a $500,000 bond. Mental evaluations were later ordered for both Osborne and Marcial-Talley, but both were found fit to proceed, leading to their eventual guilty pleas.
The cases against all three were ordered sealed, initially by then-Garland County District Court Judge Ralph Ohm on Oct. 21, 2019, and later by Garland County Circuit Court Judge Marcia Hearnsberger on Oct. 24 after the cases were bound over to her court.
In a news release issued on Oct. 19, 2019, Hot Springs police said the victim's murder was "not a random act" and was related to the theft of her car. Officers who responded on Oct. 18 to the Linwood Street residence in reference to a welfare check found Dickerson dead inside.
"It was also noted that Dickerson's car was missing," the release said. The investigation later determined Orrell, Osborne and Marcial-Talley were involved in the homicide and warrants were issued.
"It appears the victim and suspects knew each other and that this was not a random act. The case is still under investigation," the release said at the time.