LITTLE ROCK — A Drew County man who police say has a history of domestic violence was charged with attempted capital murder Thursday after he reportedly shot his wife Monday evening at his home 10 miles north of Monticello.
Jimmy Lee Frost, 48, is accused of shooting Vanessa Frost once in the temple and twice in the chest with a .22-caliber pistol, said Lt. Rick Rausch of the Drew County sheriff's office.
The woman was in stable condition Thursday at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, he said.
"It's amazing she's still alive," Rausch said. "She's in a lot of pain, but they believe she's going to make it. She has a lot of rehab in front of her."
Prosecutors also charged Frost with conducting a terroristic act and being a felon in possession of a firearm, both felonies, according to court papers filed Thursday morning in Drew County Circuit Court.
John F. Gibson Jr., a Monticello attorney representing Frost, was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment. His secretary was also unavailable.
Circuit Judge Sam Pope sentenced Frost to six years in prison on Oct. 1 for violating probation on charges related to violence against his wife, but Pope granted Frost's request for an appeal bond under the condition that he have no contact with his wife.
Rausch said Frost posted the $25,000 bond and was released from jail six or seven days before his wife was shot.
Deputy prosecutor Frank Spain said he did not agree to a bond for Frost but doesn't recall whether he objected to it, either.
"I believe I objected, but I'm not 100 percent positive," Spain said Thursday. "I know I didn't want him to get out. That's the reason we were having the [probation revocation] hearing."
In 2006, prosecutors charged Frost with aggravated assault andterroristic threatening against his wife, according to 10th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Deen.
According to the sheriff's report in that case, Frost pulled a gun on his wife on Aug. 8, 2006, and accused her of having a relationship with another man. He then told her to get in the truck so he could take her and the man to Star City, where he would shoot them both, according to the police report. Police arrived before anything happened, according to the report.
He was placed on probation for those offenses, Deen said.
Last month, Frost was charged with aggravated residential burglary, second-degree domestic battery and second-degree battery.
Police allege that Frost broke into his daughter's home and attacked Terry Taylor, whom he thought was having a relationship with his wife, and then attacked his wife, according to the police report.
The police report says Frost cut Taylor in the face and his wife on the arm with a pocketknife.
Frost's wife is seeking a divorce. Efforts to reach her divorce attorney Thursday were unsuccessful.
On Monday evening, Rausch said the defendant called his wife and asked her to go to his home on U.S. 425 about 3 miles south of the Lincoln County line.
When she got there, Rausch said, Frost attempted to talk her into accepting him back into her life.
"He told her he wanted to get back together, that he loved her, but she said 'no, it's over with,'" Rausch said.
After being rebuffed, Frost pulled out the gun and shot her, Rausch said.
After the shooting, Frost called 911 six times between 10:56 p.m. and 11:05 p.m. Monday, Rausch said.
"The first time he stated: 'I shot my wife. She needs an ambulance, please hurry,'" Rausch said, reciting Frost's 911 conversation with dispatchers. "The last call, he said: 'Please hurry, I shot my wife. She needs help.'"
Arkansas, Pages 24 on 10/26/2007