Inmate scrawls bloody message

Rape suspect reportedly tore scab, wrote ‘DIE’ on jail wall

A North Little Rock man awaiting trial on multiple rape charges ripped open a wound on his arm Wednesday and used his blood to write “DIE” on the wall of an interview room in the Pulaski County jail.

Pulaski County sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. Cody Burk confirmed Thursday that David McEuen, 48, had scratched open a scab on his arm Wednesday and written with the blood on the wall.

McEuen has been in the Pulaski County jail since May 5 on three charges of felony rape, two charges of failing to register as a child or sex offender and fourth-degree sexual assault, according to the jail’s roster.

According to court documents, McEuen is charged with raping two children between July 6 and July 10, 2017. McEuen also faces charges in the sexual assault of another child in the same time period.

According to a warrant for his arrest, McEuen picked up two girls, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old, on July 5, 2017, after they ran away from a youth home in Little Rock. McEuen then took the girls to a warehouse in North Little Rock where he lived in a camper parked inside, according to court documents.

Over the next four days, McEuen reportedly raped both girls multiple times, gave them alcohol and marijuana and dropped them off back near the youth home, according to a warrant for his arrest.

The 14-year-old victim told police that McEuen had been watching her when she went to the public library and had emailed her multiple times.

Thursday evening, McEuen was in the Pulaski County jail in lieu of a $502,500 bond.

Since his arrest in May, McEuen has had two court-ordered mental evaluations, one of which was inconclusive and one that found him fit to stand trial, according to court documents. Both forensic reports concluded that McEuen was malingering, or feigning or exaggerating symptoms of mental illness.

In the initial report conducted on Feb. 21, the examiner said McEuen, “presented himself as so impaired and disturbed, I was unable to obtain the usual historical information.” The examiner said McEuen was “taking deep breaths and rocking in his chair, while chomping his teeth in a dramatic fashion.”

In his second evaluation in May, McEuen was much more forthcoming and told the examiner about his childhood, recent employment and criminal history, according to court documents.

McEuen told the examiner that he had “cut himself” approximately 25 times — primarily while he was in jail — and that he cuts himself while incarcerated in order to get attention from jailers, according to a forensic report from the State Hospital.

McEuen’s second forensic report found that he had malingering, borderline personality disorder, cannabis use disorder and stimulant use disorder — the latter stemming from his professed use of marijuana and methamphetamines, court documents said.

McEuen self-reported thoughts of suicide, which was corroborated by his medical history, the report said. McEuen was hospitalized multiple times in Little Rock for swallowing razor blades and cutting himself, the examiner reported.

McEuen has several convictions — including for forcible rape in California in 1990 and second-degree sexual assault in Lonoke County in 2008. Court documents indicate McEuen also has been convicted of theft of property, probation revocation and failure to register as a sex offender in various places in Arkansas.

McEuen was committed to the State Hospital in May, according to court documents, but Burk said he is awaiting transport.

For the time being, Burk said McEuen will be under surveillance at the jail.