Man gets two life sentences in women’s fatal stabbings

A 24-year-old Sharp County man pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder on Tuesday and was sentenced to life in prison.

Charles Paul Stovall will die in prison, said his attorney, George “Birc” Morledge IV of Little Rock.

Stovall went on a stabbing rampage in October, killing Hayleigh Gruger, 23, and Linda Janny, 72, according to Sharp County Circuit Court documents. Their bodies were discovered in their separate homes on Oct. 19. All three lived in Cherokee Village.

Stovall also pleaded guilty to first-degree battery in the Oct. 19 stabbing of Debbie Compton, then 41. She was riding in a vehicle with Stovall and another man in Highland at the time of her attack, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Stovall told police that he stabbed the two women to death because they stole from him, and he tried to kill Compton because “he was tired of her talking,” according to the affidavit.

Since Stovall had already confessed to police, Morledge said his goal was to try to keep his client from getting the death penalty. He said that would have prolonged the pain for all of the families involved.

“If he were given the death penalty, this would go on for 20 years,” he said.

Morledge said Tuesday’s plea was negotiated with Prosecuting Attorney C. Ryan Cooper, who declined to comment on the case. Stovall’s trial was scheduled for June.

Morledge said Stovall had a serious drug problem and was under the influence of drugs when the crimes were committed.

“Even though he was not in his right mind at the time, it falls within the purview of being voluntarily intoxicated,” Morledge said. “There’s not a legal defense for that in Arkansas.”

Morledge said Gruger was Stovall’s girlfriend and that his killing of Janny was random. Morledge said Stovall and Gruger had admired Janny’s house when driving by, but Stovall had never met Janny.

“He was just wandering around after Hayleigh’s death and ended up in [Janny’s] carport and found keys to her house and went in,” Morledge said. “They were hidden in an outlet receptacle.”

Morledge said Stovall wept as he apologized to the victim families during a hearing in open court in Pocahontas on Thursday.

Morledge said Stovall understands what he did was wrong and is deeply sorry for what he did.