Officer says texts, photos inappropriate

Murder case hearing focuses on relationship

FAYETTEVILLE — A Benton County Sheriff’s Office detective admitted to sharing inappropriate text messages and photographs with a confidential informant in 2014 but denied any sexual contact with her.

Miguel Cordova, a narcotics detective in the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, testified Tuesday afternoon in a hearing in Cody Wise’s capital murder case. The hearing centered on Cordova’s relationship with his informant, who is also a witness in the murder case. The woman was also in a relationship with Wise at one time, according to Wise’s attorney Drew Ledbetter.

Wise is accused of killing 53-year-old Ronald Lee Kultgen Sr. of Garfield. Witnesses said they saw Kultgen getting into a car with Wise on April 15, 2015. Kultgen’s body was found Aug. 29, 2015, in a rural area near Clifty in Madison County.

Wise’s defense team is seeking copies of the records from Cordova’s county-issued cellphone.

An internal investigation was launched by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in January 2015 concerning Cordova’s relationship with the informant. Cordova testified he resigned as a narcotics detective from the office that same month, ending the investigation.

He was rehired as a narcotics detective July 2 of this year.

Cordova confirmed during Tuesday’s hearing

he shared text messages in 2014 with the woman. Ledbetter handed Cordova a stack of documents and told Cordova the pages reflected text messages in which he asked for nude photos of the woman at least 100 times. Cordova agreed those exchanges were inappropriate.

Cordova also acknowledged sending the woman an image of a nude man and a photograph of a penis, but Cordova denied the images were of him. He said he took the images from the Internet.

Ledbetter questioned Cordova about the woman’s claims the two had sexual contact with each other, but Cordova denied it. Ledbetter also asked Cordova about two investigative targets the informant recommended to him. Ledbetter described both men as having been in relationships with the informant. Cordova said he was aware one of the men was an ex of hers.

Capt. Kenneth Paul, who heads the criminal investigation division of the Sheriff’s Office, said he did the internal investigation concerning Cordova, but it ended when Cordova resigned. Paul said Cordova was truthful during the inquiry. Ledbetter said Cordova initially denied sharing the messages with the informant.

Paul described Cordova’s actions as “a defense mechanism” and testified he believes Cordova was being truthful after the initial denial. Cordova didn’t commit any criminal act, Paul said.

Paul also said the investigation included a review of Cordova’s county cell phone, and Ledbetter said he hadn’t received those records.

Sheriff Shawn Holloway testified the internal investigation was when he was a major at the Sheriff’s Office. Holloway said he never read the file on the internal investigation.

Holloway said he consulted with Prosecutor Nathan Smith before rehiring Cordova. He said Smith told him since Cordova had been working as a police officer in Bethel Heights since leaving the Sheriff’s Office, there wouldn’t be any problems with him testifying as a deputy. Holloway said he made the final decision to rehire Cordova.

“I based my opinion regarding this officer’s ability to testify on the information provided to me at that time,” Smith said Tuesday evening. “I am currently re-evaluating this position based on new information.”

Ledbetter wanted Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay to order the Sheriff’s Office to turn over the records from Cordova’s county-issued cell phone from his previous tenure.

The messages Ledbetter had in court were screenshots from the informant’s phone, and the messages weren’t in chronological order and didn’t have any dates.

Matt Durrett, prosecuting attorney for the 4th Judicial District, which includes Madison County, said the phone records had nothing to do with Wise’s murder case and Cordova resigned before Kultgen’s murder took place.

Lindsay instructed Durrett to work with the Sheriff’s Office to determine whether the records concerning Cordova’s phone still exist, and, if they do, to provide them to Ledbetter.

Wise is free on $250,000 bond.