Johnson County man pleads guilty in killing

White to testify in case against others

A Johnson County man has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the New Year’s Eve slaying of Vernice “Duwane” Ledbetter.

Brian Anthony White, 22, pleaded guilty and will provide testimony, said Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons.

Three other men — Zachary Aaron Geels, Phillip Andrew Raible and Isaac Taylor Marcus Vaughn — still face first-degree murder charges in the case.

White is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 31, which is Gibbons’ last day as prosecutor. He’s retiring after 22 years in office.

Gibbons said he’s still waiting on the results of mental evaluations of Geels and Vaughn. There was no mention of a mental evaluation in the court docket for Raible.

According to White’s court file, he didn’t manifest symptoms of mental disease or defect at the time of his July 17 examination at the Arkansas State Hospital or, in the opinion of the psychologist, at the time of the “alleged offenses.”

But White met the criteria for “malingering” methamphetamine and marijuana use disorder, according to the report from Lacey C. Willett Matthews, the psychologist.

White’s state of mind at the time of the homicide didn’t render him “incapable

of appreciating the criminality of his conduct” or “conforming his conduct to the requirements of the law,” according to the forensic report.

A trial date has not been scheduled in the case.

Ledbetter’s wife reported him missing Jan. 1. On Jan. 11, the Johnson County sheriff’s office sent out a news release describing Ledbetter as a missing person. Ledbetter was described as a white male, 5-foot-11-inches tall, and weighing 185 pounds, according to the “media kit.” He had brown hair and green eyes.

“He was last seen wearing a camouflage hoodie, bluejeans, brown boots and a camouflage ball cap,” according to the release from Sheriff Larry Jones.

Ledbetter’s body was found Jan. 22 in a remote area north of Hagarville.

“The body had been burned,” according to an affidavit from an Arkansas State Police investigator. “It appeared the body had at least two gunshot wounds.”

In a telephone conversation Dec. 31, Ledbetter told his wife that he was with White in a silver Dodge pickup “going up on the mountain to get more firewood,” according to the affidavit for Geels’ arrest.

But something changed at a bonfire shortly afterward.

Vaughn told police that Geels “put Ledbetter on the ground,” according to the affidavit.

“They took his phone and started going through it and found ‘cop stuff,’” according to the court document.

They tied Ledbetter’s hands together with wire and drove to a remote location, according to the affidavit.

“Vaughn said Ledbetter was ‘pistol whipped’ and that White walked up to him and shot Ledbetter five times,” according to the affidavit.

White told police that Vaughn shot Ledbetter, according to the affidavit.

“The body had been burned. It appeared the body had at least two gunshot wounds.” — An Arkansas State Police investigator’s affidavit