LITTLE ROCK — The third suspect wanted in a July 1 killing and bank robbery in the Crossett area surrendered in Texas on Monday, telling authorities that he feared for his life.
Kendell Nickelson, 26, of Brookhaven, Miss., turned himself in at 7:26 a.m. at the sheriff’s office in Richmond, Texas, about 30 miles southwest of Houston, Fort Bend County Chief Deputy Sheriff Craig Brady said.
“He gave the deputy the impression that someone other than law enforcement might have been trying to track him down, and he feared for his life, evidently,”Brady said.
“I guess he thought jail was safer than the streets.”
Nickelson also told authorities he “was wanted out of Arkansas,” but didn’t give many details or admit to any crimes, Brady said.
Nickelson is to appear in the 240th Judicial District Court of Texas in Richmond at 9:30 a.m. today for an arraignment, at which point he could waive extradition and be returned to Arkansas, Brady said.
The Arkansas State Police has said Nickelson and Peter Keith Harvey, 41, abducted Donna Woodberry, 58, of Crossett, shot her to death and left her body along Hidden Acres Road near North Crossett on July 1.
The pair then used her Nissan Altima to flee the robbery of First National Bank of Crossett’s North Crossett branch, state police have said. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken, and a bank employee was beaten, authorities said.
Harvey of New Orleans and Adrianne Green, 30, of Crossett were arrested Thursday.
Like Harvey - who was arrested at his girlfriend’s home in Opelousas, La. - Green faces charges of capital murder, kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of theft of property, papers filed in Ashley County Circuit Court show.
Tenth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Deen said Nickelson would be charged when he is returned to Arkansas.
“I was particularly concerned about Nickelson more than anyone else, since he had managed to escape the initial arrest,” Deen said. “He had proved more elusive, and we had been tracking him for the past three days across three states.”
Deen said authorities were in communication with Nickelson’s mother and girlfriend over the weekend.
Deen said he would soon decide whether to seek the death penalty against Nickelson and Harvey. He said he would waive the death penalty for Green - whom he described as an accomplice - if she cooperates with authorities.
“It appears that’s what she is doing, at least thus far,” Deen said.
Authorities were led to Green after discovering that she purchased two paintball masks, two skullcaps, wire ties, a stopwatch and a gasoline container at a Wal-Mart in Crossett two hours before the bank robbery, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant for the three suspects signed by state police Special Agent Scott Russell.
Bank employees had told authorities the two men who robbed the bank were wearing masks and skullcaps, the affidavit said.
The black wire ties purchased at Wal-Mart were consistent with ties found in Woodberry’s vehicle, which was found abandoned in a parking lot two miles from the bank after the robbery, the affidavit said.
On July 8, authorities interviewed Green, who identified Harvey as a culprit in the bank robbery and said the second man went by the nickname, “Junior,” according to the affidavit.
Green told authorities that the three scouted Crossett-area banks before choosing to rob the one in North Crossett, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Green told authorities that Harvey and “Junior” told her they would “jack a car” for the robbery, although she said she didn’t know they would target Woodberry.
Green lives about a block and a half away from Woodberry and was friends with her and her family, Woodberry’s family has said.
During a court hearing Friday in Ashley County Circuit Court, Green told Judge Sam Pope that she had nothing to do with Woodberry’s death.
However, Green told authorities that she had a “dream or vision” that Woodberry was struck in the head with a tire tool, forced in the trunk of her car and driven to a location north of Crossett whereshe was shot in the head, according to the affidavit.
Green denied being present for the abduction or robbery, the affidavit said.
She told authorities that Harvey called her and told her about the robbery and that it “went bad for the woman in the car,” the affidavit said.
Green told authorities that Harvey had a black and silver Smith and Wesson handgun, which was recovered by authorities at the home where he was arrested in Opelousas, the affidavit said.
Also recovered at the home was a cell phone containing pictures of Harvey with a substantial amount of cash, the affidavit said.
Louisiana authorities have said they had been searching for Harvey for the past six months in the Dec. 21, 2009, armed robbery of a Duson, La., truck stop casino called the Wagin’ Cajun, where Harvey worked as a security guard.
Authorities said they figured out Nickelson’s name in part by discovering that he had stayed at the Crossett hotel where Green had told authorities that “Junior” stayed.
Lt. Ron Stayton, commander of the state police’s criminal investigative division for southeast Arkansas, said police further confirmed Nickelson’s name through interviews with his associates in Louisiana.
Stayton said he believes a family member talked Nickelson in to surrendering Monday.
“The state police, the Ashley County sheriff’s office, the Crossett Police Department and the FBI have put in a great number of hours to solve this crime. They worked through the night and on weekends. They did some good, old-fashioned police work and didn’t give up,” Stayton said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/13/2010