Detective resigns from Sheriff ’s Office

BENTONVILLE — A narcotics detective with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office accused of having inappropriate communications with a confidential informant resigned last week.

Miguel Cordova started his second stint with the Sheriff’s Office on July 2. He resigned the first time in January 2015 after being questioned in an internal investigation about his relationship with the informant.

“We accepted his resignation and he is no longer employed here,” said Sgt. Shannon Jenkins, a spokesman for the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office.

Cordova recently testified at a hearing in Cody Wise’s murder case.

Cordova admitted to sharing inappropriate text messages and photographs with a confidential informant in 2014. The informant is a witness in the murder case.

The former detective also acknowledged sending the woman an image of a nude man and a photograph of a penis but denied ever having a sexual relationship with the woman.

Cordova worked as a Bethel Heights police officer after leaving the Sheriff’s Office the first time.

Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith notified the Sheriff’s Office by letter last week that his office will inform all defense attorneys with any cases involving Cordova of his past conduct.

Cordova denied that anything inappropriate happened between him and the informant when first questioned in the internal investigation, according to Smith’s letter. Cordova later acknowledged the communications happened when

he was asked about the explicit messages, according to the letter.

The decision means defense attorneys will be aware of Cordova’s history and he could face questioning about the incident if one of his cases went to trial.

Wise, 29, of Siloam Springs 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 was arrested Saturday in connection with the delivery of methamphetamine/cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance and furnishing prohibited articles. He was arrested while free on $250,000 bond in the murder case.