Springdale man pleads guilty, gets 40-year sentence

A Springdale man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing a Huntsville man in 2015.

Travis Bell,

38, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 20 years suspended, according to prosecutors.

The Arkansas State Police investigated a house fire at 14864 U.S. 412 in Huntsville on Sept. 1, 2015, according to a police report.

Tommy R. Moffett, 56, was found on a bed. His body had a fractured skull, and .22-caliber rounds were found nearby, according to the report.

Investigators found a gasoline container and unlit matches in the hall outside the bedroom. The fire was contained to the bedroom.

Witnesses interviewed during the investigation said Moffett had roommates including Bell whom he had kicked out because Bell tried to injure a child, according to the arrest report. Bell killed or dumped Moffett’s puppies while Moffett was hospitalized, one witness said. Another said Bell suspected Moffett had sex with his girlfriend.

Bell was angry at Moffett because he wore his clothes he’d left in the house. Bell said he planned to cut Moffett and burn his house, one witness told police.

Bell told a person he was going to prison for murder, according to the police report. When asked he wouldn’t say if he had killed Moffett or not but said it would look as though he had.

Bell has a previous criminal history of third-degree assault of a family or household member, carrying a prohibited weapon, violation of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act and failure to appear.

Bell