No-contest plea entered in death
Defendant helped move body
HOT SPRINGS — One of seven suspects arrested last year in the death of a man whose body was found dumped at Greenwood Cemetery in October pleaded no contest Monday to helping dispose of the body and cover up the crime.
Jake Lynn Norwood, 29, who has remained in custody since his arrest Nov. 5, pleaded no contest in Garland County Circuit Court to a felony count of tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to the maximum of six years in prison.
Norwood was charged in case of 31-year-old Cory Richardson of Hot Springs, whose body was found Oct. 23 next to the cemetery’s main entrance at 701 Greenwood Ave.
Norwood’s prison sentence will run concurrently with a sentence of 10 years he received June 5 from the revocation of his probation from a previous conviction on Dec. 6, 2016, for possession of a controlled substance, meth, with purpose to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police have arrested six others in connection with Richardson’s death. An autopsy determined Richardson died of a gunshot that entered his upper left buttocks and exited his abdomen. There also was evidence of post-mortem injuries, including blunt force trauma on his head and a stab wound in his left thigh.
Melissa J. Wineland, 38, of Hot Springs, was arrested Oct. 24, Norwood was arrested Nov. 5 and James Dean Keyser, 28, of Hot Springs, was arrested Nov. 24. Each was charged with tampering with physical evidence.
Police arrested Steven Wood, 43, of Hot Springs, on Nov. 15 on a felony charge of first-degree murder. Stephanie Shell, 22, of Malvern, was arrested at the same time and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, which is punishable by up to 20 years.
In early December, police asked for the public’s help in locating Donald Franklin Williams, 55, and John Patrick Walker, 43, both of whom were being sought for first-degree murder in Richardson’s death. Walker was apprehended Dec. 19 in Garland County, and Williams was arrested Dec. 29 in Rockwall, Texas.
If convicted, Williams, Parker and Wood could face up to life in prison for Richardson’s death.
According to previous affidavits, Richardson was killed or severely wounded at 106 N. Patterson St., Wineland’s residence, and transported by car to the cemetery. The car was located and searched the day Richardson was found and had a large amount of blood in the back seat, according to an affidavit.
Later that night, an anonymous caller told police that Norwood had told two people he had assisted in cleaning a car used in a homicide and that the body was left at the cemetery, according to an affidavit.
Hot Springs police detective Scott Lampinen interviewed two witnesses Oct. 24 who said that Norwood had told them about cleaning up the car and dumping the body, the affidavit said. Later that day Lampinen arrested Wineland, who admitted that she and another suspect transported the body to the cemetery from her home, and that she and Norwood had taken the car to a carwash and attempted to clean up the blood.
According to other witnesses, Richardson used a counterfeit $100 bill Oct. 22 to pay Wood for meth, which Wood got from Williams. Later that same day, Williams arrived at the residence, angry at Wood for accepting the counterfeit bill, and told Wood to locate Richardson and “deal with it” and then left, according to an affidavit.
Williams and Walker went to the Patterson Street residence around 3 a.m. armed with handguns and pistol-whipped Richardson, according to an affidavit.
Wood reportedly joined in the attack, hitting Richardson until he got back to his feet and tried to flee out the rear door in the kitchen, the affidavit said. At that point, Williams raised his gun and shot in Richardson’s direction, the affidavit said.
Williams and Walker were the only ones in the kitchen with Richardson at the time and continued to beat him before a second shot was fired, according to an affidavit. The witness said Richardson was face down on the floor, yelling he had been shot as Williams and Walker exited the kitchen.