Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Date set for Segerstrom resentencing
FAYETTEVILLE — Convicted child murderer Chris Segerstrom is set for a resentencing hearing Aug. 24 before Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay, more than 36 years after his original conviction.
Lindsay found Segerstrom mentally competent for resentencing in March.
Segerstrom was 15 on July 26, 1986, when he took 4-yearold Barbara Thompson into a wooded area behind the Lewis Plaza Apartments several blocks west of the University of Arkansas. He sexually assaulted her before bashing her head with a 40- pound rock and suffocating her.
Segerstrom, now 51, was convicted in 1987 of capital murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He’s been confined since then either in prison, at the Arkansas State Hospital or the Washington County Detention Center, where he’s been since January 2021.
Segerstrom’s original conviction has never been in jeopardy, but the U.S. and Arkansas supreme courts have ruled in recent years juveniles can’t be sentenced to life without parole. Arkansas changed its law to allow life with the possibility of parole after 30 years to comply with the rulings. Anyone sentenced as a teen to life without parole had to be resentenced.
A jury will be empanelled for the resentencing hearing, and members will be presented with evidence and hear arguments from both prosecutors and the defense before recommending a sentence to Lindsay. The hearing is expected to last two or three days.
“It’s just for sentencing, not for guilt. It’ll be unique for me, but it’s not unheard of,” said Matt Durrett, prosecuting attorney. “Since they won’t hear evidence from the guilt phase of the trial, I have to put on evidence as to what occurred. I don’t have to prove the case, but I have to give them an idea of what he did.”
Durrett said the amount of time that has passed will add a degree of difficulty.
“Obviously some of the witnesses are still around, but some are long gone. Some are
dead,” he said. “But, we do have transcripts which I believe I can introduce, along with exhibits because it was part of a previous trial, and the witnesses were subject to cross- examination. It’ll be interesting, but we’ll try our best to piece it together.”
Prosecutors and attorneys for Segerstrom had been arguing about whether Segerstrom is mentally competent to be resentenced since February 2019, when the Arkansas Supreme Court granted Segerstrom a resentencing hearing.
Lindsay held a competency hearing in January, which included testimony from three doctors who examined Segerstrom. They testified about whether he is too mentally ill to participate in his resentencing or whether he’s just being manipulative and malingering — a term for faking symptoms.
Lindsay then issued his order finding Segerstrom is competent. The judge said Segerstrom has long used malingering and bad behavior to get what makes him happy in prison, such as being housed in special program units, certain foods or getting out of work. And, Lindsay noted, Segerstrom’s feigning of incompetency has only gotten worse since he was first found to be incompetent and sent to the State Hospital.
Lindsay in 2017 denied Segerstrom’s motion for a new sentencing hearing, saying a hearing wasn’t required because the state law applied retroactively.
Because Segerstrom was given credit at his original sentencing for 11 months of jail time served, he became immediately eligible to seek parole, which was denied.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in February 2019 the state law addressing minors who kill doesn’t apply retroactively to Segerstrom’s case.
The court ruled he has to be allowed a sentencing hearing before a judge or jury at which time he can present evidence and testimony in his favor. The sentencing range now is 10 to 40 years or life.